


Lessons In Attraction

by AttackoftheDarkCurses, thebuildingsnotonfire



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Ben and Rey are teachers, Bickering as Flirting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Hate at First Sight, Meddling Friends, Pranks, Reylo - Freeform, Rom com tropes, Smut, locked in a room
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-13 15:38:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16020923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackoftheDarkCurses/pseuds/AttackoftheDarkCurses, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire
Summary: Ben and Rey are notorious rivals, teaching at Alderaan High, constantly bickering and driving their coworkers and students crazy. Obviously the only solution is to set them up together, right?





	1. Narrative Techniques: In Medias Res

**Author's Note:**

  * For [murakamism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/murakamism/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved this prompt, and I hope you don't mind that I turned it into a longer fic.

The school was relatively quiet. Maroon lockers flashed by, some in various states of disrepair, others in perfect condition. Some little troll had decided to tag a foul image on the ceiling with some spray paint, and unfortunately the janitorial staff hadn't had time to come and clean it up, what with the usual messes that arose from the beginning of the school year. It left a chemical and nauseating smell that was permeating through the corridor, blocking passage through the area for all students

Lights flickered on lazily as motion sensors barely grasped the duo as they walked through the deserted and eerily quiet building.

Rey huffed angrily as her heeled ankle-boots click-clacked across the tiled floors of Alderaan High's east wing, and she did her absolute best to ignore the fact that the devil incarnate was trailing right behind her.

"It's not like this was my idea, you know," the devil snapped. They passed a cork board wall full of brightly colored pieces of paper and Rey wondered if she'd get in trouble if she grabbed a handful of the thumb tacks and just left them on his chair.

She did know it wasn't his idea, but that didn't mean she couldn't blame him. She'd long since objectively realized that her behavior was more than a little petty and childish, but  _so was his_.

A frustrated breath behind her told Rey he was getting ready to keep talking. She decided to head it off in the most mature way possible.

"Piss off," she said.

There was a brief moment of silence as the words settled in the air, and Rey felt a vicious surge of triumph at making him pause. Sure, it felt practically sacrilegious to say it out loud in the hallowed and empty halls of the school, but there was also a giddy heady feeling to it, too.

"Nice," he said at last, voice as acidic as one of her class experiments, "You say shit like that around our students, too?"

Rey stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked up to the ceiling, saying a silent prayer for her sanity to whoever or whatever might be listening. The fluorescent lamps just buzzed on, oblivious to her plight.

"First of all, none of our students are here. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a Teacher Workshop Day, so you better believe I'm going to swear all I want if I'm stuck here while Holdo forces me to work with  _you_." She let out a long breath and said, "And anyway, you're one to talk. You know, for a literature teacher you're surprisingly uncreative with your swearing."

"We aren't all walking Shakespearean insult generators, despite what you may think," he grumbled, as if he were offended. " _Some_  of us just like to read, and introduce students to good books and proper grammar.  _Some_  of us don't waste useful time and money blowing things up for fun, and  _some_  of us teach relevant skills that our students will use for the rest of their lives, and-"

She turned on her heel ready to interrupt him with screeching because she'd heard that argument from him a million times, often over budget-related meetings, and there was  _no_  way she was going to let him keep bitching. But since karma and fate and whatever else was at work truly had it out for them, he hadn't noticed she'd stopped, and he plowed right into her.

Rey stumbled backward and nearly fell on her ass, but a strong arm caught her around her waist, pulling her tightly against him.

The shock of being in Ben Solo's arms was enough to stun her into silence. Even with her heels he was a good deal taller than her, and she blinked as she stared up at him. His molten whiskey-brown eyes stared down into hers, and her hands were pressed against his chest and  _wow_ , his muscles were firm and his shoulders were broad-

She instinctively bit her lip before she had the chance to scold herself for doing so, and-  _did he just lean down?_

Was Ben Solo, the asshole who dared have the look of some gorgeous Bryonic hero and the personality of a rude dumpster fire actually thinking about  _kissing her?_  Rey supposed that would be one way to shut him up. His lips had a level of plushness that was rather obscene, and-

While she was busy staring, the tip of his tongue flicked across his lips, and his eyes darkened, and she had to bite back whatever embarrassing noise she was about to make. That was enough to snap her back to reality, and in no time she pushed her palms against his chest, "Let  _go_ , you asshole."

And just like that the mesmeric stare broke off and Rey remembered that  _this_  was the guy who got her classes trip to the Science Museum cancelled.

The tool rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated puff of air as he dropped his arm from around her. "What, should I just let you fall next time?"

" _Yes_ ," she hissed, "It'd be even better if you'd watch where you're going, too."

He bared his teeth at her and Rey's eyes were drawn to the thin, almost imperceptible pulse along his neck that he got whenever he was frustrated. It was a good look on him, truth be told, but like hell was she ever going to admit that out loud.

"Fine!" he spat.

"Fine!" Rey growled, continuing her stomping in the direction of the teacher's room. "I don't even need your help. It's just a bunch of paperwork. I can get it myself."

"Hate me all you want, Rey, but Holdo asked both of us do this," Ben rumbled, trailing behind her like some lost puppy. "So if  _you_  mess it up, that reflects on me."

"Excuse me, but I think I'm perfectly capable of finding and picking up some documents, thanks," Rey drawled, stopping to glare at him. "I know you might think I'm some sort of idiot who just...how did you put it? Blows things up for fun? I teach  _Chemistry_ , jackass, and you  _know_  that. Lab-based chemical reactions are kind of part of the job description!"

His nostrils flared and a sneer graced his face before he haughtily crossed his arms and said, "Is dressing like one of our students  _also_  part of your job description?"

That was a low blow, and she could see it on his face the moment he realized it. The words that came out of her mouth were in a scary-calm tone she only reserved for students who were caught breaking safety rules or mixing chemicals they shouldn't, "I'll have you know, there is  _nothing_  in the employee handbook for this district that says I can't wear jeans and sweaters. Do you have  _any_  idea why we specifically do not wear open-toed shoes in my classroom? How do you think chemical burns feel, Ben?" She grinned evilly, and added, "If you're curious, I'd be happy to show you."

Either shame or guilt crossed the man's expression before it was wiped away clean. He crossed his arms and leaned against a locker, not meeting her eyes. "Okay look, I'm sorry, that  _obviously_  crossed a line, but-"

She turned back and ignored him, continuing, "The fact that I don't wear dresses to work every day has nothing to do with my teaching capabilities."

He sighed, just like one of his woe-is-me idiot characters from one of his overly dusty and drab, and above all  _boring_  books. "I didn't mean to-"

But Rey was not to be denied this opportunity to strike at Achilles' heel, so she interrupted. "Since you mentioned it though, it  _is_  a tad ridiculous that you always wear some sort of suit. We work with high schoolers, not accountants or professors or lawyers."

"I like to maintain a certain level of respectability," Ben said, speaking each word carefully stiffly and sounding every bit the snooty stereotype that had so ruined Rey's appetite for certain types of literature, "Not all of us have the luxury of reciting facts from a textbook.  _I_ actually have to get my students to think."

Annoyingly enough, her brain reminded her that he looked  _damn good_  in a suit, especially when he took the jacket off and rolled the sleeves of his button up shirts to his forearms. Truthfully, she might actually be a bit disappointed if he stopped showing up to work in them, and part of her even wondered how he managed to find shirts that fit those shoulders-

Rey groaned - there was something  _truly_  wrong with her brain - and a confused look crossed Ben's face.

She gave one last huff and shake of her head, then turned the corner and threw the door to the teacher's lounge open, knowing he was still on her heels. It took her a moment to find the documents Principal Holdo had sent them to find, and didn't think twice when she heard the door slam behind them.

That was, she didn't think twice about it until she tried to shove past Ben to leave the room... _and the door was locked_.

"What did you do?" Rey asked, a bit of horror seeping into her voice. She whipped around to face him, and repeated her question, emphasizing each word. " _What. Did. You. Do?"_

Ben scowled at her. "What are you blaming me for now? Please, tell me Rey," he snapped, "exactly  _what_  have I done this time?"

"The door's locked," she hissed, as she tried to look out the lonely column of glass embedded in the door to check to see if anyone was out in the hallway. "I didn't even know this door could lock from the outside!"

"What?!" His eyes shot open wide as he stepped up beside her and looked over her, out the door's window. His large hand came down and brushed hers aside, and began trying the handle with about as much success as she'd had. "You're kidding. It doesn't lock. Not from the outside! Do you have  _any_  idea how idiotic it would be to have a door like that in a high school? Of course it doesn't lock from the outside!"

He really could get quite a rant going given sufficient motivation, she mused. She supposed it was all the blowhard attitude that came from reading too many ideas and not having enough action in his life.

"Well apparently it does today," Rey groaned, turning away and heading for the other door in the lounge. Safety codes required at least two doors per room and-

She stopped, feeling the stiffness in the door handle, just like she'd found with the other one. "Seriously? Is this some sort of cosmic joke?"

"Here, let me try," he insisted, coming to her side  _again_ , as if he were afraid to be separated in a room smaller than her living room. "You're probably doing it wrong."

Rey crossed her arms and stood back, watching the way his shoulders heaved as he pulled on the massive door with all his strength. The school had recently invested in newer, more stolid doors - ones that couldn't be broken down by pure brute strength via a series of interlocking pins and latches, and  _clearly_  that budget was being put to good use.

She watched him try for another ten seconds, pausing to admire the view from behind as she heard him swear a guttural and vicious stream of words. Unable to resist adding fuel to the fire she said cheekily, "Yes,  _sir._  Please, do try,  _sir._  My frail female hands are  _so_ delicate and unable to open this door. Or, perhaps I've forgotten how to open doors in the last thirty seconds. Silly me."

He paused and turned around to face her, and dammit if the stray hair brushing his cheek didn't inspire a feeling wholly inappropriate for the location. "What did you say?" he asked, huffing.

"Are you always like this?" she snapped, gesturing to all of him, "Seriously? Maybe I'm 'opening a door wrong'? Do you even listen to yourself sometimes?"

He stopped, seemed to consider her words, and then turned right around, resuming his futile struggle.

After a minute of tugging at the door and trying the door handle he swore and stepped away from it. "I think we really are stuck in here," he groaned. "We should just text someone and have them come get us."

His words went in one ear and out the other as she stared down at a note that was propped up on the small circular table in the middle of the room. She frowned, and picked up the note as Ben glanced back at her and said, "Did you hear me? I think we should just text someone."

"I don't think that'll help," Rey said quietly, reading the folded scrap of paper carefully. Once she finished it, she smacked her hand to her face, "Oh, goddammit. For the love of-  _here-_ " she handed it to him, and muttered, "Bunch of juvenile assholes."

And for once, she wasn't referring to the students.

Ben took the paper curiously and cleared his throat, reading it aloud as Rey sat at the table and buried her head in her hands, " _Dear Idiots,"_  he huffed, "Nice," and then continued, " _Call us once you've settled your differences and we might let you out. You're pissing us all off and we all think you should just admit-"_

Rey peeked at him through the hands over face and saw that his cheeks had turned a deep shade of pink. Well, at least she wasn't the only one thoroughly and properly embarrassed. He coughed, and continued in a low tone, " _we all think you should just admit that you're perfect for each other, so suck it up and figure your shit out. Do us a favor and-"_ if it was possible, he managed to blush further, " _don't have sex in the teacher's lounge. We still have to eat in here, and we haven't left you any condoms. Love, all your friends and coworkers who are sick of your bullshit."_

He paused, and glanced over at her before crumbling the note in his fist. "This was probably Hux, Poe, and Finn, but I think I'm going to kill them all when we get out of here," he said calmly.

"For once, I think we agree on something," Rey admitted dryly. "I'll be happy to help."

Ben groaned and slumped into one of the chairs across the table from Rey. "So we're just...stuck here? What are we supposed to do?"

"Well we sure as hell aren't having sex," she muttered, eyeing the dirty furniture and unwashed counters. As gross as the rest of the school was, at least that got a pass for having a bunch of teenagers roaming through it all week. Some of the messes her colleagues made were downright disgusting.

His eyes got wider as he gaped at her, "No  _shit_. I think I'd prefer to keep my job, and I wouldn't sleep with you if every other employee at this school turned me down."

A giggle escaped her lips as she said, "Ah, yes, you'd prefer Hux, then? Mm, you two would make an adorable couple. You might have to fight Rose for him, though."

"That's not what I meant," he gritted out, clearly starting to lose his temper. "Believe it or not I was trying to agree with you."

Rey frowned, and said, "You've certainly developed an interesting method of agreeing with someone. Insult them while agreeing." She stopped and then nodded. "Actually, yes, I can see how that'd be right in line with your atrocious personality."

"Well what the hell  _should_  I have said then?" Ben snapped, "How should I have phrased it to best get my point across without offending your fucking delicate sensibilities?"

"Delicate sensibilities?" she asked incredulously, "Which one of us is the asshole who throws a tantrum whenever someone touches his fucking teapot? And which one of us screamed bloody murder when someone parked in  _his parking spot_ , despite the fact that teachers don't have assigned parking?"

"God, you are  _such_  a bitch," he breathed, as if this was news to him, and stared at her for a moment as if he still couldn't believe it. He shook his head and finally sighed. "Seriously, what are we supposed to do?"

It took a minute of her debating whether or not to snap at him again, but Rey ended up answering, "I say we spend the next few minutes bitching about the jerks who locked us in here, and then we figure out how to break our way out, because if I have to spend more than a half hour in here with you, one of us won't make it out alive."

"Fine," Ben nodded. "I guess we can agree on that, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	2. Introduction to Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Chapter updates likely won't take this long in the future. Last chapter was "In Medias Res", meaning chapter one picked up in the middle of the story. This chapter flashes back to the beginning. :)
> 
> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

_Six Months Earlier_

After silently jumping for joy while still on the phone with the polite, soft-spoken woman who'd called her to offer her the job she'd been doubtful of, Rey uttered a quick, but heartfelt  _thank you_ that could only begin to grasp at the multitude of butterflies in her stomach and somersaults her heart was going through.

She hung up as soon as it was safe to do so without potentially offending the woman on the other end, and marked what was hopefully going to be the rest of her life with a delighted squeal.

She'd been crashing on the futon in her friend's office/spare-bedroom while wrapping up her student teaching requirements in a nearby district, and while no amount of brownies or baked goods would ever make it up to Finn for letting her stay there as long as she had, now that she'd officially been offered a job it was time to apartment-hunt.

As if he heard the over-excited megaphone blaring in her head, Finn poked his head out of the kitchen. He wore a cautious smile at her exuberance and asked, "Is that a happy noise, or a I-didn't-get-it-so-open-the-wine noise?"

To further illustrate how amazing and perfect her friend was, he held out a bottle of overly sweet fruit wine she'd picked up the last time she'd gone grocery shopping. It was basically juice but Rey's tastes only went up to about $5 so to her, it was a luxury.

"I got the job!" Rey beamed, giddily vibrating with energy she'd only ever gotten at around the twentieth hour of running on energy drinks. "We're gonna be coworkers!"

He sighed, relieved, and walked over to give her a big hug. The man practically twirled her around, bottle still in hand, and the brilliant smile he gave her only compounded her own excitement.

"That's  _amazing_ , Peanut!" he said, after putting her down. He left for the kitchen, and returned with a corkscrew and a pair of wine glasses Rey'd picked up at a garage sale. He was talking the whole time, ramping himself up as he talked about her new job. "Hopefully we have similar schedules - I wonder if we could get assigned to the same office. We can  _totally_  commute together, and-"

Before Finn went off on a tangent, Rey interrupted. She  _adored_  her friend, but she'd been living in his space for almost two months. He and his boyfriend, Poe were kind enough to warm her heart in the same way a nice, fresh cup of tea on a rainy afternoon would, but she'd imposed on them for long enough. Not to mention the psychological breath she held every single time they had to move one of her things because it was in the way around the apartment. She knew it was silly, but instinct honed by disappointment and tempered by her crappy experience in the system had left her wary of anyone touching things she deemed  _hers._

It was time high time she moved out, for all their sakes.

"Uh, sorry to break it to you, Finn, but I'm probably going to start apartment hunting." She saw his face fall and she hurried to explain herself. "Now that I'll have a regular income, it's probably for the best. Plus," she smiled softly, "I've never really had my own place. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

 _Her own place_.

Talk about a dream come true.

Rey had never had the sort of income that would have allowed for her own apartment, and growing up in London's foster care system hadn't allowed her to ever experience the joy of having her own room. She'd hardly even had her own  _belongings_. Even when she'd left for the States to attend college, the salary she'd earned from two part-time jobs had barely covered the cost of her books and the tuition fees that were left after her scholarship gobbled up most of the bill, so she'd ended up living in the dorms with roommates for the length of her degree.

And now, Rey had just accepted her first  _real_  professional job. High school science teacher. It was hardly a high-salary position, especially in the US, but she'd had it on good authority (Finn and Poe's) that Alderaan High was a great place to work. The pay they'd offered her was decent (at least decent enough to afford rent for a local one-bedroom), and Finn and Poe had sung praises about their boss, Principal Holdo. That was enough for her.

"Ah, I get it," Finn nodded. His smile was back, smaller than before, but softer and more understanding. "We'll still have game nights though, right? And maybe we'll have lunch sometimes at work?"

"Of course," she said reassuringly, pulling him in for another tight hug. "Thanks for letting me stay so long. I owe you. Especially for helping me get the job."

After a moment, Finn snorted and said, in a tone that suggested he knew something she didn't, "You might not be saying that when you meet all our coworkers."

Rey rolled her eyes, and said words she'd come to regret.

"Really, Finn. How bad could they be?"

* * *

It took her another two weeks to find an apartment, and Rey considered the adventure a resounding success. She'd already seen three other potential options, but had shied away from each one (respectively, she described them as: too far from work, too expensive, and really creepy neighbors). Rey admitted to herself that she was goldilocks-ing, and she was about to snatch up the closest one, creepy neighbors and all, when she stumbled upon a small complex not ten minutes from the school.

The complex wasn't particularly fancy, but it seemed quiet and she didn't see any glaring issues with it right off the bat (unlike the place she kept referring to as  _too far from work_ , which hadn't seemed to have any parking available, or  _gutters_ ). After a moment's consideration, Rey parked her car and walked into the small building marked as the office, and asked about availabilities.

She'd made her decision within the hour, and signed the necessary paperwork, then moved in a few days later, once her credit check and references had come through. Sure, the closets were small, the kitchen was a little cramped, and all the walls were a boring white (and were  _not_  to be repainted), but it was perfect. It was  _hers._

Of course, Rey had basically nothing in the way of furniture to fill the small space, and she spent almost all of the savings she had left to purchase a proper bed and a few other items, like kitchen supplies and a couple of chairs. She'd also picked up a couple of bookcases from a second-hand store, and filled them almost immediately.

Books were something she  _did_  have. Most were sci-fi, thrillers, or horror, and had been found at used bookstores or received as gifts, but no matter how dusty some of them seemed, Rey treasured them. She'd never really been one to latch on to items, but  _books_  were the exception, and she had enough of them to fill the bookcases, almost needing to stack them in two rows on each shelf.

Move-in and unpacking took her a grand total of four hours.

Rey crossed her arms, tapped her foot, and glanced around the unpacked, but still sort-of empty room. The floor was a nice hardwood (or fauxwood at least), and it looked like there was minimal staining around the apartment. The building was brick though (drafty, too), and she could already tell winters were going to be murder on her heating bill, which was why she planned on covering every surface of the place in some sort of rug or carpet or quilt. Rey had slept through enough freezing-cold nights to know she never wanted to be cold again.

She did another quick walkthrough, falling into a careless and freeing whimsical step as she did so, dancing with an imaginary partner as she explored her new, empty-ish apartment. She had to lift the bathroom door by the handle to open it properly, but fortunately the anti-septic smell from the landlords cleaners had already cleared. Now, only scented soaps of her mishmash collection remained.

_Tap. Tap tap. Tap._

Rey was barefoot as she glided through to her bedroom, rapping her knuckles against the wooden door for good luck. She stepped strong against the floor, exultant in the faint vibrations that carried up her body at every step.

Dancing had never been her forte, or something she indulged in often, but roaming her place - her boxed corner of the world - seemed to uncoil something she'd long buried in her chest, and she couldn't help but let out a laugh as she jumped and touched the ceiling.

She came down with a loud thump against the floor, and she stopped, realizing at some point she'd started tiring herself out. She probably should have let Finn and Poe help. It would have gone faster, but maybe they would have wanted to stick around for drinks or something to celebrate.

Rey huffed dejectedly and did her best not to pout, but was rescued from her failed attempt by a loud, pounding knock at the door. She frowned a bit at it, knowing Poe and Finn had made plans for the day once she'd waved them off from helping, and strode over to it, opening it curiously.

Had there been an award for stupid decisions, Rey would have accidentally won it despite not being nominated, and she would have tripped up the stairs on her way to collect the trophy.

Looking through the damned peephole would have solved the problem, but  _no_ , she just  _had_ to go and open the door to one of the most uncommonly handsome men she'd ever met. Unfortunately,  _pissed_  didn't even begin to describe the expression he wore when he stared down at her.

Deep brown eyes. Massively broad shoulders. Sleek dark, softly curling hair down to his shoulders. Face twisted into a rage-filled sneer.

Apparently that was her type now.

Oh  _no._

He shouted something at her and she just...stared. Was it really her fault that it had been a while? Like, a  _long_  while? At some point the shouting sort of got in the way of the attractiveness, and she snapped from her daydream rather quickly, thank  _God_ , because how embarrassing was that?

Rey hadn't picked up a word he'd said, so she simply interrupted with a flippant, "Can I help you, or should I just shut the door so you can keep yelling?"

That got his attention, and earned her a scowl. He puffed angrily and snapped, "You're making a  _lot_  of fucking noise! You realize someone's living directly below you, right?"

...okay, so maybe she  _had_  started blasting music while she'd been unpacking. Not to mention her impromptu dance recital.

Just to prove his point, the song blaring from her little speakers started on the scream-y part of Led Zeppelin's  _Immigrant Song_. Rey rushed away from the door to lower the volume, not realizing just how obnoxiously loud it had gotten, and when she turned it down considerably, she turned back to the man, giving him a sheepishly apologetic smile and a shrug.

"Sorry, I just moved in," she explained, "I didn't realize how much sound would travel."

He still looked upset, and maybe it was the long day talking, but Rey couldn't help but mentally snark that he looked way too accustomed to being ticked off.

"Is this going to be a regular problem?" he barked, "It sounded like you were having a goddamn rave up here.  _Some_  of us are trying to get some fucking work done,  _sweetheart."_

The way he spit that last word made Rey blink. Her eyes narrowed, and she closed the distance between them to glare up at him and hiss lowly, "I'm  _not_  your sweetheart."

"No shit," he growled, "I don't tend to be attracted to immature little  _brats_  who don't consider their neighbors before throwing one-person parties loud enough to deafen everyone in a mile radius."

Her eyes shot wide. " _Immature little brat?_ " she echoed under her breath, then roared, "Get the  _fuck_  out of my apartment! You have  _no_  right to start calling me names. I apologized and lowered the music, and you call me an  _immature little brat?_  Go fuck yourself," she snapped.

"Trust me, sweetheart, I'm not planning to stick around," he said harshly. "Just know I won't hesitate to report you for a noise violation next time."

"Call me sweetheart one more time," she uttered threateningly, poking her finger into his chest as she backed him toward the open door that led to the hallway, "One. More. Time." He finally rolled his eyes and stepped into the hallway, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

Then the bastard just  _had_ to get the last word as he gave her a mock smile, and said, "Just keep it down up here,  _sweetheart_."

The last thing Rey saw was the look of shock he wore when she roared and slammed the door in his face. She let out a sharp exhale and caught her breath, instantly groaning and cursing her temper for making an already bad situation  _worse_. After all, she  _did_  have to live in the same building as the guy...but then again, she'd spent a good deal of her time at work, and people didn't often run into their neighbors, did they?

With any luck, she'd manage to avoid him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	3. Murphy's Law for Beginners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

Wake up at five-thirty, out the door by six, coffee shop by six-ten, at his office for planning by six-twenty.

It was a perfect schedule Ben Solo adhered to during the school year and the first day back was no different. Falling back into a familiar rhythm was a relief.

That is, it  _would_  have been a relief, if it hadn't gotten completely fucked up.

He'd woken up on time, but managed to hit snooze at least twice, because the nightmare wrapped in  _adorable_  and  _cute_  that lived above him had apparently decided the night before the start of his school year was the perfect time to throw a mini-party. Ben really should have known to go back out and buy earplugs when he arrived at the front door the night before at the same time a pizza guy dropped off three pizzas.

Ben was already twenty minutes behind schedule when he hopped in for a quick shower, cursing his restless night's sleep on the annoying-as-hell music that had been blaring past 11 PM, but after his first run-in with…

Huh. He hadn't even gotten her name.

Well, anyway, after his first run-in with  _her_ , he hadn't been in a rush to repeat the event. He was still mildly embarrassed with how he'd handled things, but she hadn't exactly given him a chance to apologize before slamming the door in his face. Ben figured the least he could do was simmer in his hatred for a bit longer and  _not_  file a noise complaint, as he claimed he'd do.

That was enough of an apology, right?

By 6:30 ( _still_  running twenty minutes late) he was tapping his feet in line behind three people waiting to order coffee, wondering what the hell was taking so long. He glanced up at the person who was holding the line up, debating over whether  _American coffee_  was worth ordering, because apparently, according to her,  _Americans rarely got tea right_ , and-

Oh, goddammit.

It was  _her._  Of  _course_  it was her.

He should have recognized her from the charming accent, or maybe the three cute buns her hair was pulled back into, or maybe from the delightful spread of freckles he could see every time she turned her head to look over at the menu that hung on the wall. How could someone be so...adorable and so aggravating all at once? She was like bottled sunshine when she smiled, and canned nitrous when she talked. All he could think about was how he needed some sunglasses.

Ben sucked in a deep breath as he saw her smile broadly at the barista, finally placing an order, and he turned, ducking his head as she walked past. No need to delay his day further by getting into another yelling match in the middle of his favorite coffee shop.

It was just after 6:50 AM when he finally made it into his office, huffing a bit at the fact that he only had a half an hour to relax at his desk and go over his first-day-back lesson plan before the school bells would start going off, beckoning the students to their first class of the day. Thankfully the first round of classes usually just covered his expectations for the year, maybe a little  _getting to know you_  stuff (though, he tried to avoid that as much as possible), and, if all went well, he'd hand out the first reading assignment.

Unlike in previous years, Ben was going to be working with Juniors and Seniors, and he'd come to the conclusion that he'd have a bit more freedom with his lesson planning. The stack of  _first books_  was already sitting in his classroom - they were starting with  _The Great Gatsby_  for the juniors and _Heart of Darkness_  for the seniors before moving into plays.

He sipped at his coffee and glanced around his office. The room was small, just enough for two desks and a couple of bookshelves, with a little floor space to spare. He and Hux had shared the room for a couple of years, and had hung a bunch of inspirational posters ironically. Part of him was a little surprised they hadn't gotten called out by someone for the Darth Vader force-choke one they had that said in block lettering, "Strong people don't put others down. They lift them up," but it seemed neither he nor Hux were social enough with the other teachers to have much company in their private space.

That was  _exactly_  the way Ben liked it.

As if called to the room by Ben's thoughts, the friendly, but occasionally caustic red-head poked his head in and knocked on the doorframe, grinning at Ben.

"Why are you knocking?" Ben snorted, "This is your office, too."

Hux paused, and pursed his lips. "Actually, that's why I came by - I'm going to be moving my stuff upstairs. I'll probably be moved up there in the next day or two." The man's face took on an apologetic expression as he took another step inside and said quietly, "I  _may_  have pulled a few strings to move to Tico's office. There was an empty space there and they were going to move a new teacher in with her, but I made the argument that we should share an office since we're both math teachers, and-"

"And you thought it'd be easier to ask her out if you share an office?" Ben drawled, quirking an eyebrow. At Hux's mild blush, Ben cracked a smile and laughed, waving him off, "Don't worry about it. I mean...you'll be missed, obviously. Who else is going to be willing to listen to me complain about my students romanticizing Romeo and Juliet?"

Hux seemed relieved at his reaction, and walked over to his desk, which Ben finally realized was mostly empty already. "I'm sure your new office mate will be more than happy to bitch about students with you," he joked, "after all, isn't that the whole point of these offices? Lesson planning and bitching?"

"Don't forget sleeping. Remember those weekends we stuck around because Rose suckered you into helping the Mathletes events? A pretty pair of eyes and you're putty in her hands." Ben chuckled, nodding, and then hesitated. He propped his head on his hand and sipped more coffee, asking, "Any word on my new office mate, then? You said they're a new teacher?"

"Yeah," the man nodded, opening and closing drawers in his desk as he made sure they were empty, "Not sure what her name is. All I know is that she teaches Chem and met with the science teachers in the usual meetings last week, but I didn't meet her. Rose said she's great. I think she already knew someone who worked here and got recommended - what's that history teacher's name? The one dating Dameron?"

He considered it for a minute, and finally remembered. "Finn, I think. Nice guy." Ben huffed, and commented, "I think he'd have to be to put up with Poe."

"You're just anti-social," Hux teased, "You wouldn't know what to do around an extrovert if your life depended on it."

Ben groaned, "Oh, if my new office-mate is some cheery, over-the-top, energetic ball of energy, I  _swear_  I'll come after you, and-"

His half-hearted threat was interrupted by more knocking as a soft voice came from the entry, "Uh, is this office 134A? Half the rooms around here don't have signs and-"

_No._

_No no no no no no no._

Ben nearly dropped his coffee at the accent and the familiar voice, and looked up to the door, desperately trying to keep the expression of horror off his face. Hux didn't notice his expression and instead, walked to the door to greet the woman who'd become Ben's daily tormentor.

"Hi, I'm Armitage," he said pleasantly, holding out a hand to shake hers, "But  _please_  call me Hux. You must be Ben's new office-mate. I'm just moving upstairs, so some of my things are still here, but I'll get them moved today."

"I'm Rey, and that's fine," she reassured him, waving him off. She took a step into the room and her gaze drifted up to where he still sat, staring at her, and she froze. The warmth in her tone dropped by about twenty degrees. "What are you doing here?"

Ben blinked. For a relatively smaller woman (at least, smaller compared to him), she was  _good_  at being intimidating. He cleared his throat, and said quietly, "What am  _I_  doing here? I work here. I would think the fact that I'm sitting here, in my office, would make that clear."

"You have  _got_  to be kidding me," she whispered. "Is this a joke? Is someone just fucking with me? I mean, I  _know_  I'm the new person around here, but this is not funny, and-"

"It's not a joke," Ben drawled. Then he huffed, and said, "Well, if it is a joke, it's being played on the both of us."

Hux coughed in a way that was absolutely not inconspicuous, and muttered, "So, I take it you've met?"

"You could say that," Rey grumbled.

Ben watched her trudge over to her new desk and toss down a book-bag. He glared over at Hux for a moment, but the man just shrugged, mouthed  _Good Luck_ , and escaped out the door with a box full of his things. Coward.

 _Rey_...somehow that was a very fitting name for the woman who'd seemed bright and bubbly every time he'd seen her. Well, before she noticed he was there - when that happened, she seemed to instantly turn cold.

Which, he supposed, was entirely, or at least  _partially_  his fault.

He sighed, and took a deep breath, then said, "If we're going to share this office, we should probably try to get along."

Rey just let out a laugh. "I  _don't_  get along with assholes, generally speaking."

 _Wow_ , okay, well, at least he'd tried.

"Fine," he snapped, already regretting the little bit of annoyance he was letting flare up. "Fine, let's just be tense and pissed off around each other all year. I'm  _sure_  that'll make for a fantastic work environment."

"Sounds great to me," Rey hissed sarcastically, "Let me know if you've had a personality change and maybe we can revisit the whole  _getting along_  thing."

After a moment, Ben grinned, and replied in the sweetest tone he could muster, "Will do,  _sweetheart."_

Anger flashed in her eyes and she let out a guttural, outraged exhale that somehow came across as adorable. Intimidating as hell, but also  _cute_.

...he  _really_  needed to stop thinking that way. That way led to trouble, and - considering that she seemed to hate him - a possible sexual harassment lawsuit. He made a mental note to avoid the  _sweetheart_  method of aggravating her while at work, and gave her what he hoped was an apologetic look. Apparently it came across as something else, because she just shook her head, grabbed her bag, and stomped out of the room.

Shit. This was  _not_  going to be a good year.

* * *

A mere twenty minutes into his second class, just after they'd gotten the introductions and expectations part of the first class discussion out of the way, loud banging started echoing through the room. It was coming from the classroom next door.

The noises and subsequent laughing caught Ben off-guard at first, and he ignored it the first few times, but even his students started seeming concerned after the fourth loud  _bang!_

His eyes narrowed and he glanced over at the shared wall. This was a new classroom for him, and he wasn't even entirely sure what was on the other side of the wall since he hadn't taught in this wing of the school before.

When it happened again, he huffed, and stopped midway through a sentence, "Sorry," he grumbled, "I'm going to see what that noise is about. Stay here and…" he shrugged, "pair yourselves into groups of two for our first class activity."

Ben tried to keep the unprofessional expression of disdain off his face as he stormed out of the classroom and into what was apparently a lab next door.

Quite a few of the students (sophomores or juniors, from the look of them) glanced up from their lab stations, most of them looking mildly horrified when they saw him. Judging by their expressions, Ben guessed they'd heard about his teaching style ( _harsh_  was probably putting it mildly), so he schooled his mannerisms to something non-threatening.

"Can I help you?"

The voice was kind, unthreatening, and laced with just a drop of poison that would undoubtedly taste sweet, and Ben almost turned around and marched right back out the door when he heard it. He tilted his head to look over at Rey, who was wearing a lab coat, standing over a desk of glass containers.

She spoke again, a bit louder, probably in an attempt to get his attention, "Can I  _help_  you? We're in the middle of a lab."

Ben took a deep breath, realizing he couldn't exactly get into a fight with her in front of her students, and nodded sharply, "Sorry for the interruption," he grumbled, "Can we talk out in the hallway for a moment?"

Rey seemed to consider him carefully for a moment before nodding. She turned back to face the class and said, " _No_  mixing anything while I'm in the hallway. Instant detention for anyone who does.  _Yes,_  I'll know if you have, and no, I'm not kidding. While I'm gone, discuss with your lab partners the reason you think you got the reaction you did. If I'm still out in the hall when you're done, make a list of chemical versus physical properties of items around you."

She turned back to him and set her lips into a thin line, then followed him out into the hallway. Once the classroom door shut behind them, she asked quietly, "What is your  _problem?_  I was in the middle of a lesson!"

"So was I," he snapped, turning on his heel to face her. Ben caught himself before he started  _truly_  snipping at her, and said calmly, "Look, I don't know why on earth someone thought to stick an English classroom next to a Chem lab, but I can't have explosions going on next door while I'm trying to get my students to focus on my lesson."

A small grin played across her lips as she said, "Are you saying your lessons are boring and don't hold your student's attention? Because  _that_ , I'd believe."

Ben crossed his arms, and tried to talk himself out of glaring at her.

"Just because I don't spend an entire class having fun blowing things up doesn't mean my class is boring," he muttered defensively. "At least  _my_  subject will be useful for these kids past high school."

Ah, fuck. He really needed to start filtering his assholish tendencies.

Ben winced when he saw the pissed-off and offended look on her face. Even while irritated and outraged she was gorgeous, and somehow that made the whole situation that much more frustrating.

"I didn't mean it like that-" he said quickly, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

Rey interrupted him quickly, "Oh I'm sure you did. I'm  _sure_  you meant to say that critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving, time management, written and oral communication, and researching skills are entirely useless. That's what you meant, isn't it, Ben?"

"No, of course not," he sighed, knowing full-well he'd already lost whatever argument they'd been having. "I just meant-"

"How about this," she interrupted harshly, "I don't care  _what_  you meant. This conversation is over. I'm going back into my classroom and you can take your opinions about my field and shove them, because I'm  _not_  going to listen to you talk down to me. My students deserve my time more than you do, so  _pardon_  me."

She spun, and Ben watched regretfully as she stalked back into her classroom and sort-of slammed the door behind her.

He took a step or two back, until he was leaning against a locker, and let out the breath he'd been holding, murmuring to himself, "Yeah, I guess I deserved that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	4. Improv Basics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

Fall arrived and started to pass as Ben did whatever he could to simply  _stay out of Rey's way_. He'd managed to piss her off at every single turn, and despite the fact that she could be irritating as hell, he didn't feel like making his work  _or_  home-life any more tense than it had to be.

They fell into an unspoken rhythm. He'd plan and grade in their office in the mornings, while she tended to work at her desk in a planning period she had after lunch. Somehow, their shouting matches in the hallway were limited to harsh whispers and they managed to keep them down to three to four times a week. Unbelievably, that was an improvement.

He was only a little ticked off by all the  _green_  that had taken up residence in their office - it seemed Rey had a thing for plants. That wasn't bad, exactly, but it meant that nearly every surface was covered, and hey, maybe he needed another place to stack more books or...

Oh.  _Right._  Rey had even done the  _one_  thing Hux had never,  _ever_  dared to do.

She'd moved his books. No...worse - she'd  _organized_  his books. By  _height_. The day he'd gone into the office and seen that, he'd had to walk right back out to avoid screaming at her. He'd been successful, and he'd also had a good deal of success not doing anything  _too_  stupid.

At least, it  _was_  a success, until a cold Monday in November. Snow had started a little early, and a light layer was built up over a more dangerous layer of ice, and it was a recipe for disaster.

It appeared that he and Rey had accidentally managed to adopt a similar morning routine, each shuffling out of the apartment building at around the same time, and that morning, Ben saw the snow and the sneakers she wore instead of boots, and somehow knew  _exactly_  what would happen.

Rey glared at him a bit as they both rushed out the door, likely both headed to the same coffee shop near the school (Ben couldn't help but think how convenient it would all be if they miraculously started getting along), and she nearly ran to her car, probably in an attempt to get away from him faster, as if they weren't headed to the same place anyway.

But then, she slipped on the ice.

Ben froze for a minute as she flailed, letting out little yelp of surprise, and his instincts kicked in. Of course, instead of just grabbing her hand to steady her, he was a total idiot, apparently chasing after harassment or assault charges, because he reached out with both hands and just...scooped her up before she hit the ground.

She seemed just as surprised as he did. He had her cradled to his chest as she stared up at him incredulously.

"Uh. Do you think maybe you could put me down now?" Rey asked, her voice suddenly on the higher end. She still looked rather shocked by what he'd done.

He'd been standing there, just holding her for a solid minute, staring down into those ridiculous hazel eyes that had no right being so beautiful, when she finally cleared her throat, nervously pawed at her dark green knitted scarf, and spoke up again, this time in a softer, maybe even timid voice, " _Ben_. I think it's time to put me back on my feet."

Ben sucked in a breath and nodded, muttering about a dozen, "I'm sorry"'s as he set her down carefully, next to her car.

Rey hadn't stopped gazing up at him, and she looked every bit as confused as he felt. "Right," she huffed, "Well. Uh. I'm going to go- Uh. Work. Yeah, work."

He just sort of watched her get in her car and leave, like a total idiot. He wasn't entirely sure how to process what had just happened.

She'd been warm in his arms. Warm, and soft. She'd looked up at him with wide doe-eyes that made his knees weak, and her eyelashes had been all fluttery, and she'd had a bit of a flush from the cold and-

Oh,  _fuck_  no. No no no no no.

He needed to cut that out  _immediately_.

* * *

Thankfully (or maybe, disappointingly), Ben didn't need to purposely avoid her, because she was obviously doing an excellent job of avoiding  _him_. Except for the occasional passing in the hall, the regular Tuesday staff-meeting, and a single shouting match after her class managed to set off the fire alarms, he didn't see her for two weeks. Apparently she'd either gotten a coffeemaker or just decided to cut out caffeine, because she even stopped going to Maz's.

Just as well, Ben told himself.  _Hate_  was a whole lot easier and more sensible than whatever else had been nagging at him.

"Mr. Solo?"

His head snapped up to see one of his students, a Junior with shaggy blonde hair and a t-shirt with a nerdy math joke, standing in his doorway.

He didn't often get attached to students, but Kes was a good kid, considerably more mature than most of his peers, and his writing skills were fantastic for his age. Plus, he seemed to be one of the few who wasn't intimidated by Ben's choice of work attire, and for some reason, that garnered a little extra respect from Ben.

Ben gave him a smile, and waved him into his office (Rey had apparently already left for the day), and Kes scratched his head nervously. The smile Ben had been wearing dropped, and his eyes narrowed. "Everything okay, kid?"

"Well, it's just- it's kind of late in the year, but we wanted to start a club that writes a weekly school newspaper, and we were thinking we'd meet after school on Tuesdays, but apparently we need an advisor," Kes paused, and looked up at him nervously, "Would you mind? You don't have to do anything - there are eleven of us and you just have to chaperone."

After a moment's consideration, Ben asked, "It's just on Tuesdays? Right after school?"

Kes nodded rapidly, a hopeful look on his face.

Well...it wasn't like he couldn't grade in another part of the building. Plus, at least it would get him to stop focusing on how he needed to put his books back in order, thanks to  _little miss sunshine_  and her weird-ass opinions on methods of organization. He sucked in a breath and nodded. "Sure, are you starting this afternoon?"

"If you don't mind," Kes grinned, practically vibrating with excitement, and while Ben was already sort-of regretting the decision, the kid just seemed too damned excited to let down.

So, Ben sighed, and said, "Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes. Is this one of those things were I should bring snacks for you guys?" He glanced up at the new (and obnoxious) periodic table clock on the wall that said " _Science Rules!"_ and decided he had time to run to the store down the street and pick up cookies or something.

Then Kes said the  _one thing_  that made Ben want to smack his head against a wall and take up drinking. "Oh, no, that's okay. Our other advisor, Ms. Johnson, said she'd bring them. I know she teaches Chem but she said she loves to read, so-"

The rest of whatever the little minion from hell said was drowned out by all the swearing that was happening inside Ben's head.

* * *

They survived a grand total of twenty minutes without sniping at each other. That seemed like a fairly impressive amount of time, but somewhere around Rey's biting "You are  _insufferable!"_ , Ben realized that every single one of the students had poked their heads out into the hallway to see what all the commotion between their two advisors was about.

He just dropped his head into his hands and sighed deeply.

"Aren't all of you supposed to be in there brainstorming headlines?" he drawled, side-eyeing the students. Thankfully they just let out quiet murmurs and shuffled back into the classroom the club had claimed, and Ben turned back to Rey, saying calmly, "We need to be more careful about being professional around them."

"I'm  _not_  the one who agreed to co-advise this little club," she muttered. "You should have known this was a bad idea, and-"

Ben scoffed, "You think I knew they'd asked you before I agreed to this? I had no clue! Kes just came in earlier and asked me if I could - not  _once_  did he mention a co-advisor."

"Oh." Rey hesitated, and she bit her lip, and…

He looked away almost immediately. It was as if the universe had sent him an absolute dream wrapped around his own living hell, and  _wow_ , wasn't that just the cruelest joke ever?

"Oh," she repeated, still sounding a little annoyed, but much less aggravated, "That's exactly what they did to me, too. Aalya stayed after class and said they needed a teacher present for the club, but they didn't mention anything about asking you."

A spark of curiosity popped up in Ben's mind and his eyes narrowed while he glanced back toward the door to the classroom. "You don't think they did this on purpose, do you?"

"No, no, of course not," she shook her head, biting at one of her nails.

But Ben knew better. More often than not, his students were easier to deal with than his coworkers, but they  _also_  were more likely to cause more trouble. Often that was more amusing than anything, like that one time a senior put Dameron's car keys in jello, but sometimes…  _sometimes_  they did things that were truly devious.

Suddenly a comment Hux had made about a month earlier sprung to mind...something about their students thinking their constant bickering was  _cute_. Ben never did google the term  _shipping_...

He had his suspicions, but nodded along with Rey's opinion. At the very least, agreeing with her couldn't possibly piss her off, right?

"We should get back in there," she groaned. "Last I heard, Jade wanted to include a sex and dating advice column and I think we definitely need to squash that idea."

Ben grimaced, and followed her back into the room.

The rest of the first meeting went fairly well, though that was probably because he'd sat back, shut up, and gotten some grading done while Rey completely squashed the awkward sexual advice column idea in favor of a generic advice column, which they would carefully moderate.

Just after 4 PM they called it quits, and Rey shuffled off along with most of the students while he stuck around. Kes and one of his friends were apparently waiting around for a ride that was running late, and considering that the school was going to be getting locked up, Ben thought it was a good idea to wait with them outside, despite the cold.

He wrapped up in a heavy black jacket and wool scarf, and regretted the decision to wait with the kids the minute Kes' mom parked in front of the school and sauntered over. Most parents would just wait for their kids to get in the car, but  _no_. She was  _not_  that kind of mom. She was the kind of mom who showed up to a parent-teacher conference in a low-cut dress and put her hand on your knee, daring you to call her out on it.

Ben made a point not to remember her name. In fact, he made a point to avoid her entirely. Unfortunately, she seemed to have a different plan in mind.

He supposed she was attractive, but he'd never been much for such a pushy personality. Plus, she was always putting her hands on him when students were around and she was exceptionally good at making him uncomfortable.

"Hi," she said softly, winking at him as she got closer.

_Oh no._

She looked over to Kes and his friend, and gestured to the car. "I'll be right there," she said sweetly, "I just needed to speak to Mr. Solo about your new club."

 _Sure_. That was probably exactly what she wanted to talk about. Uh huh. The last time this woman wanted to talk about something it had involved discussing what she wanted him to do to her with a ruler and that was not the sort of conversation he needed a repeat of.

Ben swallowed hard, and schooled his face into a slightly friendly, but very professional expression while he waited for her to talk. The minute the kids had their back turned to walk to the car, she put her hand on his arm, and her smile turned salacious. He prickled at that, but did his best not to recoil. It wasn't that he didn't  _like_  women, he just didn't like  _this_  woman, or people that were constantly so forward and-

"Hey honey!" a familiar voice greeted, except -  _no_ , he was definitely imagining things, because there was no way-

His head snapped toward the voice as Rey bounced over and took his hand, looking up him with the most dazzling smile he'd seen. She sent him a quick wink, and said, "Ready to go,  _darling_?"

It was impressive that she was managing to grit the words out, and he'd known her just long enough to be able to tell that it was a struggle. It seemed Kes' mom  _also_  caught the weird tension behind her words, because she dropped her hand from his arm to cross her arms over her chest, looking curiously between him and Rey.

"Uh- dinner- right, yeah," Ben stammered, not even believing his own lie, "Yep. Sure. Okay."

_Dammit._

It was more than a little clear that the charade was really not working, so Ben did the stupidest (smartest?) thing he could think of. Except, somehow, he managed to screw even  _that_  up.

He'd meant to kiss her cheek. That seemed like it'd be intimate enough for Kes' mom to bug off, even if she didn't totally buy it, but at his movement, Rey turned her head in confusion and he managed to land at her lips.

It was  _also_  supposed to be fast. Just a quick peck so it would seem like they were in some sort of established relationship, or something, but it was  _not_  a fast kiss. It was the furthest thing from a peck he could have managed and if his mind hadn't been in an entirely different place, he would have been mentally scolding himself. Or possibly, just screaming internally because  _why, Ben, why?_

Once he accidentally caught her lips, instinct kicked in, and he threw caution to the wind and smiled against her mouth, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her close. Miraculously, she either let him, or she was too stunned to stop him.

Ben's lips caressed over hers languidly in the softest, and most tender kiss he'd ever experienced. His grin didn't disappear as he melted into her, nuzzling his nose into her cheek, and after a moment, she moaned, and he brought up a hand to cup her face and he held her tightly to him, and-

His mind sort of fizzled out at some point, because Rey was kissing him back almost as if she'd been wanting to, but maybe she was just trying to kill him via kiss. Yeah, that was more likely, and if she kept sighing into him, it was definitely a possibility.

Kissing had never really been an erotic experience before, but Rey leaned up and against his chest, and Ben slid his tongue into her, and somehow it felt more intimate than every bit of sex he'd ever had. She hummed, and he tugged her closer - tongue, teeth and lips fighting to devour her through his smile.

For some reason, he just couldn't  _not_  smile.

After what felt like hours, all the tension in him had relaxed beautifully, and he pulled away, gently tugging her bottom lip with him as he let her go.

Ben let out a soft sigh, and glanced around, murmuring, "Oh, she's gone. Thank  _God._ Uh, thanks for the assist."

Then he heard Rey suck in a breath, and the reality of what he'd just done hit him. He ran a hand through his hair and swore. "Fuck, I'm  _so_  sorry. She's constantly coming on to me, and it was the first thing I thought of. I swear I was just planning on kissing your cheek and-"

Ben paused, watching as Rey put her fingers to her lips staring off at nothing in a daze. She whispered, almost in disbelief, "Did...did you just kiss me?"

His heart dropped. If she didn't hate him before, she'd  _definitely_ hate him now. "I'm so sorry,  _please_  don't sue me for assault or something, though, I'd totally understand if you did."

"No, no, of course I won't," she breathed, clearing her throat. "Uh, just...maybe don't do it again, I guess."

Ben blinked, "Uh. No. I won't. Promise. It- uh, wasn't even that good. No need for a repeat."

_Lie._

"Right," Rey said, swallowing hard as she stared down at her feet. She finally looked up at him and nodded, adopting a firm tone as she agreed, "Yeah. It was terrible. Awful."

_Incredible. Mind-blowing. Sweet. Soft. Delicious. Consuming. Stunning._

"Uh huh. Awful," he confirmed, "That- that's definitely the word I'd use."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	5. Conflict Management For Idiots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

Soft, plush lips slid over her skin, stopping to kiss and nip and suck at every square inch of her, worshiping her from head to toe. He slid into her carefully, stretching her and whispering soft words as she gasped, and he leaned down to mouth gently at her neck while his hips rolled slowly against hers. Rey let out a shuddering breath as her eyes met his, and she saw how he couldn't help but stare down at her in wonder. Dark hair fell like a curtain around their faces, and his gaze drifted down to the lips he'd already kissed swollen. He got impossibly close and nuzzled against her while he smiled. She whispered his name, over and over, and over as she came with his arms clutching her tightly, and-

Rey's phone alarm went off, and she jerked out of her dream and up out of bed, breathing heavily.

Ah...she was still having  _those_  dreams, then. She'd really thought they'd die down after a week, but now she was on week three of them, and they were just getting more pornographic. The worst (or best?) part was, they were so  _real_. Well, except for the part where Ben actually shut the hell up and stopped being an asshole.

She swallowed hard, and grabbed the glass of water on her nightstand, chugging it. Her eyes snapped shut as she slammed the cup down and took a few deep, calming breaths.

All it had taken was a single  _fucking_  kiss from Ben Solo, and now this. All she'd been trying to do was help - she'd even heard Finn bitch about Kes' mom (" _Rey, how many times do I have to subtly mention my boyfriend for her to get the hint?"_ ), and if anything, ruining the woman's plans had kind of been a bit of revenge on Finn's behalf. Or... _or_  perhaps she just happened to be walking by and she noticed Ben's uncomfortable body language, and thought she'd be nice.

And then he'd kissed her. Well.  _Devoured_  might be a bit more accurate.

 _Awful_. She'd called that kiss  _awful,_ and  _terrible_. Rey snorted at that. It had probably been the most obvious lie she'd ever told, unless she'd miraculously become the world's best poker player overnight.

That kiss had been magic.

But the thing was, she could excuse the fact that she'd lied about it, because  _so had he_. In fact, Ben had lied about it first, so what was she supposed to do?

The asshole'd had the nerve to call it awful, and it was more than a little obvious that it was a total lie. Rey was pretty sure she'd never forget the way he'd looked at her after they'd split apart. Nobody had  _ever_  looked at her like that.

Ben's eyes had been wide and so dark they were nearly black, and his mouth had stayed open as he stared down at her. He had looked at her like she was the sun, and he'd finally seen her after climbing out of the cave he'd spent his entire life in. And then... _and then._

And then he'd gone and fucked it all up with just a few words, as was usual for  _Ben Solo_.

Rey cringed. Oh, how she wished that kiss had been shared with literally anyone else, because now she just couldn't get him out of her head, and if just kissing him did this to her, then-

Nope. She was  _not_  going down that path. That path led to more sex dreams about the most frustrating man she'd ever met, and batteries just  _weren't_  cheap. Plus, she was mildly worried about how much the sound could travel, and the idea of his bedroom being directly below hers…

Groaning, Rey got out of bed and marched to her bathroom, wondering how cold she could make her shower before she risked some form of hypothermia.

She really needed to get laid, and that's probably why she said yes, later that day, when C'ai, one of the gym teachers who seemed friendly enough, asked her to a late lunch/early dinner after school, while they lamented over lunch duty.

He seemed nice. Short blond hair, just a bit taller than her, blue eyes, decent build, seemed capable of holding a decent conversation with her face and not her chest. Not bad, overall. Though, of course, her mind couldn't help but remind her that her type had mysteriously become a bit more in-line with  _tall_ ,  _dark_ , and  _handsome_.

Rey fully ignored the snarky, evil little voice in her that asked,  _Hm, wonder why that is?_

As it was a Tuesday, she ducked into her office during a quick break between classes in hopes of catching Ben. Just as she'd expected, he was sitting behind his desk with his nose in a book, and a pen in his mouth, tapping his fingers against a coffee mug. Her idiot brain focused in on his fingers and mouth rather quickly, and she felt a blush creep up on her cheeks before she reminded herself that he was a complete jerk.

Rey cleared her throat to get his attention, and cracked a friendly smile when he looked up, seeming surprised to see her.

"Sorry to bother you," she said quickly, already in a rush to leave his presence, "do you mind if I can't stay after school tonight? Mind handling the club yourself?"

Ben frowned, but shrugged. "I'm sure I can handle a dozen teenagers." Then he paused, and asked curiously, "Got plans?"

"A date, actually," she said quietly.

Something flared up in her at his reaction. His eyes went a little wide, and his curious, almost playful expression fell into something neutral, and his gaze dropped immediately back to his book. After giving her a clipped, "Have a fun night," he didn't look back up.

That reaction shouldn't have hurt, so...why did it?

Nope. That was not a question she'd be answering. Ever. For any reason. Absolutely  _not_. That question was a can of worms coated in dimethylmercury, buried under twenty feet of stone, covered with a sign labeled  _Here Be Giants, Enter at Your Own Risk._

Rey plastered on a bit of a smile and thanked him, all but running on her way out of the room.

* * *

C'ai was alright.

Boring as hell, but alright. Sure, the guy talked about nothing but himself and the various physical activities he did as a gym teacher and-

 _Oh,_ Rey was going to lose her mind if she had to listen to him much longer.

She'd tried changing the topic a million times. Hobbies? Just working out, apparently. Books? Not really his thing, thanks. Movies? The guy may as well have been reading off Buzzfeed's  _Top Ten Movies Loved By Douchebags_. Books, please, anything? Nope, but maybe a fitness magazine now and then.

Rey's favorite part of the date was when he'd tried to order her a salad.

 _Check please_.

Out of politeness she'd stuck around long enough to finish her meal (which was a small steak, thank you very much), but if his personality didn't make her decision, his lack of manners with their waitress and lack of tip  _did_.

Rey had been a waitress before, and she had firm opinions about manners and tipping, so she'd laid down a $20 bill on the table when C'ai wasn't looking and promised herself she'd settle for buying another sex toy over sleeping with someone like him.

To make matters worse, he'd driven them there, so she'd politely accepted the ride home.

Much to her annoyance and displeasure, he walked her to the door, possibly under the very, very incorrect assumption that she'd be inviting him in, and when he leaned in, she pretended to see something out of the corner of her eye and turned her head, leaving him with cheek.

She said a hasty goodbye and left him on the doorstep, then stepped inside the building and shut the door behind her, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of relief that the nightmare was over.

"That bad?" a voice asked dryly.

Rey's eyes shot open at his voice. She glanced up to see Ben walking down the flight of stairs toward her, and she tilted her head questioningly at him.

"Just forgot to check my mail earlier," he explained. He'd already changed into less formal clothing, swapping his usual professional attire for sweatpants and a faded gray cotton t-shirt that stretched flatteringly across the chest her hands had, at one point, been splayed across, and-

She swallowed hard, nodding. "Terrible, actually. C'ai was not nearly as charming as I'd thought." She paused, wondering when she'd gotten comfortable enough around Ben to discuss these things. Shouldn't they be yelling at each other by now?

When she glanced up at him, he was wincing. He turned his back to her and started jiggling his key in the mailbox. "I, uh. Didn't realize you were going to go out with  _him_. I would have warned you. He has kind of a reputation for being an asshole."

Rey snorted. "What, is there a club you all belong to?"

"You know, I might not be the friendliest person," Ben sighed, turning back to face her. He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "And, I might snap and come off as an asshole, but at least I wouldn't talk about how the women I sleep with are in bed with anyone who will listen." He shook his head in disgust, and added, "You realize, that guy  _rates_  his hookups? I can almost guarantee it would have sucked anyway. I doubt he's ever reciprocated anything in his life."

Ben hesitated, and scoffed, "Look, I'm just trying to say you dodged a bullet, that's all."

"Oh," she said softly, a bit surprised, "Uh, thanks. I obviously didn't realize he'd be like that."

"Well, like I said," he shrugged, "I would have warned you that the guy's an ass, if I'd realized who you were going out with."

When she looked up at him, she noticed he was only about a foot away, and towering over her a bit, and-

She was definitely staring, but he'd probably just gotten out of the shower, because his hair was wet and hanging down around his face, and water droplets were still falling and landing, dampening small spots on his t-shirt. Before she could catch herself, she licked her lips, and whispered, "Is that the only reason you would have stopped me from going out with him?"

What the hell was she thinking?

What. The.  _Hell._

Rey wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to hear for an answer, but his eyes flicked away from her quickly as he nodded, and said in a clipped voice, "Yeah."

She couldn't help but let her face fall a little, and she nodded, plastering a smile on as she said sweetly, "Well then, next time I bring a guy home, I'll be sure to check with you first to see if he's part of your little club."

Ben recoiled at that, and she regretted her words the minute she saw the hurt cross his face. "Hey, c'mon, sweetheart," he muttered, "there's no need to be so rude, I was just warning you."

Except, for some reason she was hurt too, and she couldn't help but snap back at him, "Oh, I know. I get it, Ben. I get it, but next time, why don't you just leave the character judgements to me. I think I can figure out who's worth dating, and who's not."

It's possible she spit those last words, and  _oh_  did her heart twinge with regret to see the look on his face when she did. He reacted as though she'd just slapped him. Before she made things even worse, she stomped off up the stairs, and closed herself away in her little apartment.

How had she managed to screw that interaction up so badly?

* * *

The fragile, temporary sort-of peace (which was mostly just them avoiding and ignoring each other) they'd silently agreed to for almost the entire month of December was fucking  _shattered_  with a single staff meeting.

Rey had spent hours - days, even - preparing plans to take a group of students on a field trip to a nearby city's Science Museum. She'd poured over all the resources she could find online, comparing the topics her class would cover in February (her proposed timing for the trip) to the exhibits the museum was hosting in an attempt to squeeze in as many teaching moments as possible, and she'd put together an entire proposal for it without anyone's help.

Of course, Finn and Poe had both offered their help, but she'd waved them off. It might have been a bit silly, but it was also a point of pride. It was one thing to have friends. It was another entirely to rely heavily on them for anything.

She shuffled into the conference room early one Tuesday morning in December, and as was usual for these meetings, the rest of the teaching staff was piling into the room as slowly as the zombies in an old black and white movie, probably because the coffee hadn't kicked in yet. Rey was more than a little nervous about bringing up the idea at the weekly staff meeting, but Principal Holdo was usually very busy, and as a secondary benefit, Rey was hoping a few teachers might throw in their support for the idea. It couldn't hurt, right?

Rey learned, very quickly, that she'd been completely wrong, thanks to the asshole who was apparently intent on making her life a living hell.

It took her a grand total of five minutes to explain the field trip idea to Principal Holdo, and before the woman could respond, goddamned  _Ben Solo_  had chirped in with, "Isn't that kind of far away? How are you planning to get the students there?"

Rey blinked. She really should have had coffee, but it was a bit too late for that now, so she shrugged a little and said, "By bus? We could just take one of the school buses."

The room got a little quiet, and she felt tension rise like a thick cloud. Rey glanced around at the teachers who were sitting around the large desk that took up most of the room, and at the ones who were standing around the edges of the room, against the wall. Most of them avoided her gaze. Rose gave her an optimistic smile and a thumbs up, and Rey was just about to relax a little and continue speaking when-

"Was that a question, or an answer? And how much will that cost?" Ben drawled. "You haven't even planned that out, have you?" He sighed, and said, "Have you considered who you're having chaperone?"

Rey scoffed, starting to get incredibly annoyed with his interrogation, "I figured we could take a school bus, but  _no_  I haven't looked into it. And I'm really not sure we need chaperones - I handle these kids in class, why would I need help in a museum? They're good kids."

"You're kidding, right?" he groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Rey, you can't take a bunch of kids to a city an hour away with no chaperone, that's insane! Are you out of your mind?"

The room was dead silent when Ben sighed, and added, "Okay, say you  _did_  take a school bus, and," he rolled his eyes, "let's say you miraculously manage to keep them all in line. What about the costs? And what about lunches? What's your plan for handling that?"

"Field trips often have fees," she answered defensively, "And what's wrong with kids buying lunches there? The museum has a massive cafeteria-"

Principal Holdo interrupted, not unkindly, "What about the students on the free or reduced lunch program?" She hesitated, and asked, "Do you happen to have a budget outline for your proposal?"

Rey paused, and let her shoulders drop as she turned a bit red, and said quietly, "No. I can get one together, though. The trip wouldn't be until February, so there's plenty of time."

"We generally require any field trip proposals to be turned in with a bit more notice than that," Principal Holdo said softly. "It might be best to put this off a bit. I think it's an excellent idea for a field trip, but there's a bit more planning to be done before the proposal can be considered." She gave Rey a kind smile and said, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, though."

She wasn't entirely sure what she was thinking, but Rey felt like she'd lost her mind just a  _little_  bit there, because Ben had been in the office, just a desk away, for a good deal of her planning, and  _how convenient_  was it that he hadn't said a word until now? Her eyes flashed to his and she hissed, "You really had to speak up? Thank you  _so_  much for your help, Ben."

A scowl marred his face as a quiet hush fell over the room, and he snapped, "How exactly is this  _my_  fault? It's  _my_  fault that you have piss-poor planning?"

"I swear to  _God_ , you are the worst-"

"Okay!" Principal Holdo said loudly, standing up and clapping her hands together with an expression that screamed  _you're in trouble now, children_. "I'm going to nip this in the bud before you two really get going." She looked around the room, unamused, and said dryly, "You may as well all leave. We won't need an audience for this."

Awkwardly, their coworkers started whispering amongst themselves and occasionally letting out little snorts or chuckles as the spilled out of the room. Finally, it was just the two of them, doing whatever they could to not meet each other's eyes, and Principal Holdo, who looked like she'd had just about enough of their shit.

"Sit," she commanded.

Wow, for a woman with purple hair, she was terrifying.

Rey moved to take a seat at one end of the table while Ben started walking to sit further away, but Principal Holdo stopped them, saying, "No. Sit across from me. Both of you. If you're capable of being professional teaching staff, you're capable of sitting next to each other without the room blowing up. Now  _sit._ "

Reluctantly, they both took seats across from the woman who was suddenly more drill sergeant than Principal. Rey watched her quietly as she took in a deep, calming breath, and looked at them with a smile.

"Okay. I think the three of us need to talk," she said. "Now, Rey, I'll explain this for your benefit since you're a bit new here. I've known  _this one_ -" she pointed to Ben, who Rey was still completely avoiding looking at, "since he was a little kid, so please pardon how blunt I'm about to be. I hope it doesn't come across as unprofessional."

Rey gave her a quick nod, and finally glanced over at Ben. The blood had drained from his face, and he was maintaining a stony composure, the pale color on his cheeks the only indication of his feelings.

Holdo smiled again, and said, "I've been meaning to talk to you two for a while, and I think we just need to clarify some things. I don't know  _what_ all this arguing is about, but if you're having some sort of lover's spat, you really need to-"

The words hit Rey's ears and her jaw dropped. "I- I'm sorry, did you just say  _lover's spat?_ " she interrupted. She looked over, mostly in horror, at Ben, who looked just as surprised as she was.

"I did," Holdo said slowly, frowning. "I'm just asking you two to keep things professional from now on while you're on school grounds, and please refrain from arguing in front of the students." She stopped for a moment and then huffed, "Actually, if you could stop making out in front of them, that'd be great too."

"That was  _one_  time," Ben choked.

Rey's eyes shot over to him, and she gave him an incredulous  _shut the hell up_  look, "That's  _hardly_  the point!" she snapped. She looked back to Holdo and gushed, "I think there's been a major misunderstanding, we are  _not_  together. Not even a little bit - there's no way in  _hell_  two people who hate each other this much should date!"

"You clearly haven't met Ben's parents," the woman drawled. She shook her head, and sighed, "Well, together or not, your students certainly seem to think you are. According to a parent as a couple of teachers who have overheard things, multiple students saw you together outside the school a few weeks ago, and you should know by now that gossip spreads like wildfire around here."

After a moment of stunned silence, Ben groaned. "Shit, I should have known. Hux said something about a bunch of students  _shipping_  us. I didn't know what that meant, but I assume-"

"It means they think we'd be good in a relationship together," she said dryly, side-eyeing him. Rey slapped a hand to her face and muttered, "It also means that our students are total idiots."

Principal Holdo looked mildly amused at that, and said under her breath, "They aren't the only ones." Then she stood up and looked down at them, finally saying, "I don't care if my staff members date. What I  _care_  about is whether or not my staff members are professional. Get it together.  _Fast_ , or we'll be having another one of these talks."

When the door closed behind her, all Rey could do was let her head fall into her hands, propped up on her elbows, and groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	6. Practical Applications of Karma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally working back to our "in medias res"...this is a bit of a transitional chapter to get us there. 
> 
> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

Ben had been meeting Hux at Chalmun's Cantina, a cozy, albeit slightly dingy, bar just outside of town almost every week since they'd become coworkers at Alderaan High. It was small, with limited seating, but the crowd was similarly small, and it was never really a problem. That Friday, Ben arrived first and shoved into a booth toward the back, then sat back and started stewing in anger.

His sort-of-feud with Rey was starting to go a bit too far. That much was made blatantly obvious by the post-teaching-staff-meeting meeting they'd had with Amilyn earlier that week. The worst part was, he'd gone to his parent's for a weekly family dinner the next day, and  _Amilyn_  had showed up to join them, all too happy to gush about the whole situation over dinner.

Han had, of course, started chuckling like an asshole and asked when the wedding was. His mother had taken a different approach, scolding him for being so rude to Rey. Though, she'd done so while struggling not to laugh, so…

_Is that the only reason you would have stopped me from going out with him?_

Ben glanced pitifully down at the beer he'd ordered, trying to focus on something -  _anything_  - else to get those words out of his mind. Thankfully he was rescued from his misery as Hux knocked on the table and slid into the booth across from him, giving him a big  _thank God it's Friday_  smile.

Noticing Ben's expression, Hux frowned, and asked, "Still having a shit week?"

"You have no idea," Ben breathed.

"Oh, I don't know," he sighed, "Does it make you feel any better knowing that I've been sharing an office with Rose for half the year now and still haven't figured out how to ask her out? She's just so... _cute_ , but kind of terrifying, so I'm not entirely sure how to talk to her."

Ben couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Yeah," he said weakly, "I can relate."

When he looked up over his glass, he noticed Hux staring at him curiously. He pursed his lips, and started to say something, then shut his mouth again as if he'd thought better of it.

"What?" Ben asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing, "What are you not saying?"

"You're not going to like it," Hux warned, glancing toward a server, and waving politely to indicate he was ready to place an order.

Ben paused, and shrugged as he sighed, "Whatever, I'll take any advice you have at this point."

He watched as Hux started chewing on the inside of his cheek, and finally nodded, and said softly, "There's a thin line between love and hate, Ben."

After a moment, Ben nearly spit his drink, saying, "Hux, I  _definitely_ don't love Rey."

"Funny how you knew exactly who I was talking about," Hux huffed. "Well, you clearly don't hate her, and I don't think you're ambivalent about her either."

"I- " ...he couldn't bring himself to say it, and let out a low breath, whispering, "Fuck. No. No, I don't hate her. I  _want_  to hate her. It should be  _so_  easy to hate her." Ben hesitated, and breathed softly, "Why don't I hate her?"

"You talk about her constantly," Hux pointed out quietly, ignoring his question, "Sure, it's mostly complaining, but it's pretty clear she's always on your mind."

Ben swallowed hard, staring down at the table in front of him as he fell back into his chair, and murmured, "Yeah...I guess she is."

"And you kissed her. I seem to recall hearing quite a few of my students whispering about that," Hux commented. "Are you saying you didn't feel anything? You wouldn't want to do that again?"

All Ben could do was just answered by groaning, and covering his face with his hands.

"Yeah," Hux nodded. "Yeah, that's what I figured."

* * *

As the end of second quarter rolled around, parent-teacher conferences popped up and Ben was too swamped with grading book reports and scheduling meetings with parents to interact much with Rey. Or, maybe he was avoiding her on purpose. The unfortunately enlightening conversation he'd had with Hux had been constantly on his mind and Ben...well, he just wasn't ready to open that particular can of worms.

And that was one  _hell_  of a can of worms.

His students had moved on to  _Hamlet_ , and while he felt a bit guilty about it, there may have been a couple of times when he'd let students read through scenes out loud while he snuck in a bit of extra grading. It's not like they hadn't all mentally checked-out anyway with winter break coming up, and at least he wasn't one of the teachers who'd popped in a movie.

Rey's class, on the other hand, was having  _fun_. He'd done his best not to roll his eyes at the fact that a few of his students had excitedly come from her class saying she'd had them watch  _The Core_  while they all listed the scientific inaccuracies.

No wonder the kids liked her so much.

He could admit, at least, that she certainly caught and kept her student's attention. That probably had a lot to do with her young age and massive amounts of enthusiasm for the job, and-

Huh. When had he started complimenting her?

Ben shook the questions from his head as he ducked in a minute or two late to the first session of the day (Strategies for Increasing Student Engagement), and realized quickly that he'd much rather be listening to his students butcher Shakespeare with funny accents than sit through a Teacher's Workshop Day scheduled in mid-December. It had already been snowing when he'd left that morning and he really  _should_  have just faked an illness, but-

Someone cleared their throat when he entered through the back of the auditorium, and he shuffled in quietly, taking a seat next to-

Ah.

Next to Rey.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who'd been late. She huffed a little when he sat next to her, and he glanced over apologetically, noticing she was in dark jeans and a college sweater. Rose was on her other side, joined by Hux, who gave him an awkward wave.

He looked back to Rey, and...shit, even in casual clothes she looked amazing.

Ben swallowed hard and focused back on Amilyn as she started discussing the upcoming week of parent-teacher conferences before they moved on to the session's topic of Student Engagement Strategies.

Toward the back of the auditorium, they were far enough away from Amilyn to be overheard, and he heard Rey whisper to Rose, "I know this is terrible, but I wish I could skip them."

Ben glanced over playfully,  _attempting_  to talk to her in a way that wouldn't end in either of them yelling, and teased in a hushed tone, "What, bad memories from your own?"

Her reaction hadn't been what he'd expected. He'd been expecting her to maybe roll her eyes or give him the finger or something, but her anxious expression fell and turned into something a little broken, and she looked down at her lap and nodded once, sharply, before turning, scooting past Rose and Hux, and silently excusing herself from the room.

What the hell?

Rose shot him a stern look before he had the chance to ask, and hissed, "Not that it's any of your business, but she grew up in foster care. She didn't even  _have_  parents to come to these things."

"Oh," Ben said, his voice stilted, "Oh, shit."

Poe had been behind them, apparently, and snorted quietly, muttering, "Wow, man, you really suck at talking to her, don't you? Are you completely incapable of just being nice?"

"Shut up, Dameron, you aren't helping," he whispered. Then Ben sighed, and said in a resigned voice, "Shit. I'm going to go apologize."

He excused himself and left through the same door Rey had gone through, hoping to catch up to her. Glancing around at maroon lockers and a hung ceiling that was tagged in a few placed by little twerps with spray paint, he followed down a hallway and caught sight of her, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed.

It looked like she was trying not to cry. Ben walked up to her slowly, and worked his lips together before saying nervously, "Hey, I- I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I was just joking, and-

Rey's eyes narrowed as her head snapped up in his direction. She shook her head angrily at him, and pointed back toward the auditorium, "Go back. Leave me alone. I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity," he said, exasperated, "Rey, I had no idea what I said would upset you, and I  _care_  that I upset you. I never meant to."

"How  _dare_ you? How dare you pretend to care?" Rey seethed, "It seems pretty clear that you've never cared about anyone, so  _why_  start now, you absolute ass!"

Something tightened in his chest at that, and Ben found himself swallowing whatever emotion had taken it upon itself to bubble up in his throat at her words. "Fine, Rey," he snapped, "It seems like you've convinced yourself that's true. I guess there's no point in disagreeing or trying to prove you wrong, is there?"

"You couldn't  _possibly_  prove me wrong," she roared, "You've been an asshole since we met. I highly doubt that'll ever change!"

At that, something snapped. Something little in him just  _broke_  and he scowled, "You know what, Rey? You're right. I couldn't care less."

Before the surprised and maybe even  _hurt_  look on her face sunk in, Ben let his shoulders sag, and he shook his head, turned his back, and walked back to the workshop session they'd both abandoned.

* * *

Someone was standing at the front of the room going on about  _defining characteristics of learner-centered education_ , but Ben was too busy glaring back at Rey. Her arms were crossed and she sat just a few feet away from him, and if looks could kill?

He'd already have been buried ten feet under, cremated instantly from her gaze.

Poe and Hux kept shooting them looks that varied between  _please stop being idiots_ and  _dear Lord, don't blow up the room_ , and at one point, Ben finally looked away and caught Amilyn staring at him with a disapproving look on her face.

Crap.

The woman cleared her throat and silently got Rey's attention as well, gesturing to the hallway. Then she stood and left the room with Ben and Rey following uncomfortably behind her.

Once the door was closed and the three of them were alone in the hallway, Amilyn turned and gave Ben a chilling look he'd seen too often on his own mother, and said quietly, "I don't know what's going on here, but this is the last conversation we'll be having. You two are supposed to  _teach_  high schoolers, not act like them."

She turned to him and said sternly, "You've had a spotless record for eight years, Ben. Get it together before you're forced to." Then she turned to Rey and said, "Look, I know you're still a bit new here, but based on your references and interviews, I expected more professionalism. Trust me, I  _know_  Ben often isn't easy to work with-"

He couldn't help but let out a huff, but shut up the second Amilyn glared at him.

"Like I was saying,  _obviously_  sometimes he could use a bit of a personality adjustment, but you might also want to consider the fact that he has considerably more experience in this field, and maybe you could learn something from each other."

Amilyn sighed, and looked at them both, shaking her head. "I mean it. I can't keep having you two cause trouble. As it is, rumors are still flying around and if we need to have some sort of conflict resolution meetings, that's fine - I'd much rather get started with those than have this keep being a problem. Why don't you two discuss whether that's the path you want to take, or whether you can work this out amongst yourselves."

They both mumbled the quiet and embarrassed  _yes ma'am_ 's of children who'd been scolded, and Amilyn nodded, then turned to walk back into the room they'd left. Before they could follow her, she paused, and chewed at the inside of her cheek, saying, "Actually could you both do me a favor? I left some paperwork - pamphlets and worksheets, mostly - in the teacher's lounge. The one in the East Wing. We'll need it for the next session."

She hesitated again, as if rethinking it for some reason, and finally said, "It should be right on the counter. It's on promoting personal responsibility and self-motivation, and there's a lot of it, so why don't you both go?"

They both nodded in agreement, and stood there silently as she gave them an odd, almost apologetic look, and turned, then walked back into the room they'd all left.

In an instant, Rey snapped her eyes up to his and hissed, "I swear, if this stupid little rivalry thing gets me fired-"

"Christ, would you  _stop_ blaming me for everything?" he near-shouted, completely fed up.

She sneered at him and spun on her heels, and stomped off in the direction of the east wing.

Ben's only choice was to mutter a prayer for his job and sanity, and follow behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	7. Studies in Interference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so if you didn't notice it at the end of the last chapter, we've now come full circle with our "in medias res" from chapter one... _cue evil cackling_
> 
> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

_He shook his head and finally sighed. "Seriously, what are we supposed to do?"_

_It took a minute of her debating whether or not to snap at him again, but Rey ended up answering, "I say we spend the next few minutes bitching about the jerks who locked us in here, and then we figure out how to break our way out, because if I have to spend more than a half hour in here with you, one of us won't make it out alive."_

_"Fine," Ben nodded. "I guess we can agree on that, too."_

* * *

By hour two of being trapped in the teacher's lounge, Rey was muttering random curses, mostly interspersed with their so-called friend's names. They'd given up begging their friends via text to let them out somewhere around the one-hour mark, and now it was a little after two in the afternoon, and Ben had gone from pissed to worried to annoyed to starving.

"I'm texting to remind them that we're fucking human and need to eat," he grumbled. "Bunch of meddling assholes. Hux  _knows_  I was planning on going out for lunch today."

"So was I," Rey muttered as she joined him at the table sitting in the middle of the room. She shut her eyes and leaned down, resting her head in her hands while he typed out a rather pissy text to the stupid red-headed dick who was partially to blame for their misery.

The response was almost immediate, and Ben's mood lightened ever-so-slowly as he said, "Oh, apparently they left us food in the fridge." He frowned, and looked at Rey curiously, "Apparently they got  _our favorite_ , whatever that means."

She huffed, and said, "I doubt we both have the same favorite food, you probably haven't even been to the Italian place on-"

"The corner of Main and Park?" Ben smirked a little, and asked, "Let me guess, the chicken marsala?"

Rey seemed a bit taken aback, and added, "With the stuffed mushroom appetizer?"

"Uh, yeah," Ben nodded, sighing. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of that, but it made him wonder what else they might have in common. "Okay, can we call a truce long enough to eat? Then, maybe we can go back to trying to figure a way out of here?"

She sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm starving. That sounds fine."

Ben decided to be polite and let her heat up her container of food first, and miraculously, they ate in silence and managed to share an order of the stuffed mushroom appetizer without murdering each other. The fact that they were stuffing their faces probably helped with the  _no snapping_  thing, but Ben wasn't about to comment on it, mostly for fear of somehow making things worse or jinxing it.

Finally, Rey spoke up and said, "So, we need to figure out how to get out of here."

"Well, yeah," he said dryly, "I thought that would be obvious."

The little glare she gave him made it clear that his tone was less than appreciated, and he winced a bit, murmuring a quiet apology. He cleared his throat, and said, "Okay, the doors are out. I think it's safe to say we aren't getting out through one of them unless someone lets us out. What about the windows?"

"I don't think they open wide enough," she said dejectedly, groaning. "Shit, I really don't think we can force our way out of this."

Ben thought for a moment, and suggested, "What if we lie to them? Tell them that one of us is hurt and they need to let us out so we can get to a hospital or something?"

"That's a good idea," she nodded, "Unfortunately, I already tried it. I texted Finn saying I'd stood on a chair to open one of the higher windows, fell, and hurt my ankle, but he said he'd need photographic evidence."

"Wow, that's...harsh," Ben huffed.

Rey hummed in agreement, "What about Hux? Do you think he'd buy it? We could try it on him."

"I guess it's worth a shot." He put his fork down and started typing out a message to Hux, then looked up and asked, "What should I say happened?"

She thought for a moment, and said, "Well, it's got to be believable...tell him you pissed me off and I punched you, or something."

"Seriously?" Ben drawled. "Alright, fine, I'll tell him I have a bloody nose." He typed out the text and sent it off, then grimaced at the responses. "Great. He said first he'd need a photo, and then followed it up by saying  _nice try_  - apparently he and Finn are comparing texts, so he knows you already tried it - and,  _oh_ , nice," he snorted, "Apparently a bloody nose doesn't count as a medical emergency."

Rey made an annoyed, guttural noise and slumped back against her chair. "Our friends  _suck_."

"They really do," he grumbled. Then a new text came in on his phone from Poe, and Ben checked it, a bit hopeful that he'd somehow have some sort of help to offer. Though knowing Poe, he was just as involved as Hux, and Ben wasn't at all surprised to see that his text was less than helpful.

Ben read the text and frowned. He looked up at Rey and quirked an eyebrow. "So, I just got a weird text from Poe." She looked up at him over her cup of water curiously, and tilted her head as she took a sip. He hesitated, and then read off, " _Seems like you and Rey have run out of stuff to talk about. Try asking her what she said about you kissing her when we got drunk last weekend._ "

Her reaction was immediate. Her cheeks turned pink and she started cough-choking, and Ben's eyes narrowed as he asked, "What's that supposed to mean? What'd you tell them?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, "Nothing, it doesn't mean anything, except that I'm going to murder them both when we get out of here."

Ben was still studying her carefully, not at all believing her answer when her phone beeped. She grabbed it and said, "Oh, I got one too. I'm guessing this is Hux's number... _Ask Ben what he thinks about when he-_ " she stopped instantly, and managed to blush more. She cleared her throat and handed him the phone, muttering, "Your friend is a fucking jerk."

"Yours are just as involved as mine, sweetheart," he said dryly, taking the phone. His eyes drifted over the text of the message and his jaw dropped. "What the  _hell_ , Hux," he breathed. "Okay, that was  _way_  worse than what Poe texted."

Rey snorted. "Told you."

"I- I-," Ben stammered, trying to formulate some sort of response for the message Hux had sent, "Okay, I'd just like to have it on the record that I do  _not_  talk to him about things like that, so at best he's wildly guessing. I don't exactly want to get sued for sexual harassment, thank you very much."

Murder was too good for Hux. He'd draw it out, slowly, and painfully.

At least Rey didn't look like she was all that outraged.

"Well," she said casually, "I suppose it's nice to know that you and your friends don't generally talk about the sort of things you get off to. That's only mildly awkward."

"Yeah, maybe we should talk about something else," he said quickly.

Rey glanced up at him with a malicious grin as she said, "Like the fact that you aren't denying it?"

"No, that's not really what I had in mind," Ben blurted. He froze for a moment and sucked in a quick breath, deciding two could play at that game. "But I'll answer that question if you answer the one I got."

His curiosity only grew as she paused and shook her head rapidly. "Nope, never mind. Anyway-"

"What'd you tell them about that kiss, sweetheart?" he teased, feeling the edges of his mouth curl into a hint of a smile. "Let me guess...it wasn't quite as awful as you said?"

"Actually you were the one who called it awful first," Rey pointed out, avoiding the question entirely.

For a minute his brain wanted to reply that it had been amazing and he'd been dying for a repeat performance even if it was just so they'd have less of an opportunity to snap at each other, but out of all the shit he'd managed to say to her,  _that_  was the thing his mind managed to filter out. Instead of responding he just shrugged, and said, "You didn't disagree with me."

Rey scowled at him for a moment, but whatever words she'd been about to say were interrupted by both of their phones going off.

"Oh for the love of-" she muttered, "I got another one from Hux. He said to ask you what you said at some cantina a couple of weeks ago?" Rey looked up at him and shrugged helplessly, "Honestly, this is getting a bit ridiculous."

"Wait'll you hear the one Finn sent me," Ben said, desperately trying to keep the smug grin off his face. "He said you two go grocery shopping together sometimes and you've started buying a lot of batteries in the last month?"

Her eyes shot wide and she instantly covered her face with her hands as she groaned. "He's a dead man. I'm going to kill him.  _Kill_  him. I even know how I'll do it - I'm a chem teacher, I can just melt his body in a chemical bath or something, and-"

"Wow, okay, holy shit, you sound like a psychopath," Ben chuckled, a bit nervously. "Maybe I'm coming around to the idea of trying not to piss you off."

But... _no_ , the opportunity was just too sweet to let go, so he added lowly, "Uh...batteries, huh?"

Rey glowered up at him and tossed an empty water bottle at him, which he dodged at the last second. "Shut up, it was just for a couple of remotes. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Uh huh," he grinned, "Remotes? And do those  _remotes_  happen to uh...vibrate?"

His phone went off again and he snatched it before she had the chance to lunge across the table and grab it from him, and, being the petulant child he apparently was, he held it up over his head knowing she couldn't reach it, and looked up, reading the message, "Another one from Finn,  _oh_  this is priceless. Tell me, sweetheart, why would you be drunkenly rambling about how you worry that sound travels between our apartments?"

Ben watched as she sat back down, swallowed hard and dropped her forehead to the table, letting out a frustrated squawk. Then, with perfect timing, her phone went off and she jerked up, and grabbed it, and Ben got goosebumps as a smirk grew across her lips. "So uh, you talk about me a lot, huh? Hux says you do. And he said something about you mentioning a lot of cold showers?"

" _Hux_ is an asshole," Ben groaned. "I do  _not_ , and I've never mentioned anything about showers, cold or otherwise. He's obviously just-"

His would-be rant was interrupted by both of their phones beeping, and Ben checked the group text Poe had sent to both of them.

_It's 3PM and the building's yours. There's rum under the sink. Drink up, kids. Don't do anything I wouldn't do ;)_

He looked over to see Rey exemplifying the term  _resting bitch face_  as she deadpanned, "Seriously? We're really going full-in on the  _bottle_  episode thing? Also, I'm sure the list of  _things Poe wouldn't do_  is pretty fucking short."

Sighing, she shook her head, then hopped up out of her chair and strode over to the sink, bending down-

(Ben absolutely  _did not_ check her out.)

-and checked the cabinet, turning back with a large bottle of high quality rum he wouldn't normally buy on a teacher's salary and two shot glasses.

Rey walked back and fell back into her seat, setting the items on the table between them and rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms as she grimaced and glared at the bottle as if it had offended her, then snapped, "Is this like, a fucking non-murdery version of Saw, or something? If I press a certain spot on the wall, will a cozy couch pop out? If we're still here in a few hours are they going to text us with the location of dinner? This is insane. Our friends are such assholes - all this proves is that this whole thing was planned out."

She looked up at him and asked, furiously, "What the hell are we supposed to do?"

It only took Ben a moment to make his decision, and he grumbled, "I don't know about you, but that's good rum, and I'm having a damn drink. Pick a drinking game, sweetheart. If we're stuck here, we may as well have fun."

Rey groaned, and crossed her arms before shrugging in defeat.

"Okay, fine," she sighed, "Truth or Dare?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	8. Applied Compromise Techniques

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.
> 
> I also have to thank [Dryless](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryless/pseuds/dryless) for recommending the song that I ended up listening to the entire time I wrote this. It's the song that's mentioned toward the end of this chapter, and it's a gorgeous cover of a Pink Floyd Song, and I'd suggest giving it a listen - [Wish You Were Here, by Audrey Assad](https://open.spotify.com/track/1kfAB7S2CuVJYKKLpabjl0?si=hLqMbAwHQeeVcSb1v5f2UQ).

_It only took Ben a moment to make his decision, and he grumbled, "I don't know about you, but that's good rum, and I'm having a damn drink. Pick a drinking game, sweetheart. If we're stuck here, we may as well have fun."_

_Rey groaned, and crossed her arms before shrugging in defeat._

_"Okay, fine," she sighed, "Truth or Dare?"_

* * *

Ben rolled his eyes at the game she'd picked and swiped the bottle of rum, pouring them shots. "So how's this work?" he asked, "We take a shot when we don't feel like answering the truth or doing the dare?"

"That's usually how it goes," she nodded, taking the full shot glass from him, and sliding it to sit in front of her. After a moment, she glanced toward the door and asked, "Hey, what time do the custodians come by? Do you think they'd let us out?"

It wasn't a bad point, but Ben had a sneaking suspicion that Poe or one of their other friends had somehow thought of that. Only about half his brain was working, though, so he could have been wrong. Most of him was a bit too focused on the implications of the whole  _battery_  conversation they were specifically not having.

That's when Ben came up with a fantastic plan. If all went well, he'd either get answers, or Rey would just end up getting drunk. He schooled his expression to something more subtle and asked, "Okay, I'll go first - truth or dare?"

She shrugged, "Truth, may as well start off easy."

_Easy_.

Not a chance.

Ben smirked, and asked, "What were the batteries for?"

She scowled up at him and glanced down at the shot glass, then tossed it back without hesitation. Much to Ben's amusement, he realized that was basically enough confirmation, even if she hadn't said the words.

"You're an ass," she muttered, pouring her next shot, "But at least Poe has decent taste in rum. Fine, truth or dare?"

Ben had a feeling that if he picked truth, she'd just end up pulling the same trick, so after considering how limited the dare options were while they were locked in a small room, he said, "Dare."

"Take a shot."

He scoffed. "Seriously? I don't think that counts."

"It does," Rey snorted, "Just, shut up and drink."

_Well_ , it did seem like the night would be a bit less awkward if they were both at least mildly intoxicated, and they'd gone a full three or four minutes without any serious name-calling or shouting, so Ben took the shot, appreciating the very mild burn of the alcohol. He set the glass back down on the table, a little too forcefully and winced, then poured the next one so it'd be ready.

"Alright," he said, clearing his throat, "Truth or dare?"

Rey didn't even take a second to think about it before she said, "Truth."

He considered asking her more about the texts he'd received from Finn, but decided she'd probably just end up drinking more, and he felt a bit bad about the idea of them getting completely trashed within the first thirty minutes of a game that would potentially go all night. Instead, he asked, "What's the most awkward date you've ever been on?"

A slow smile spread across her face as she made an adorable snorty-giggle noise and reached for the shot glass.

"Come on," he teased, "that's such an easy question! You're really not going to answer it?"

Rey laughed, and said, "Oh I am, but It was really bad and I just need the drink first. You take one too so we're even." She paused and waited for him to take his drink, and then said, "Okay, it was in college, with a guy in my calc class. He'd seemed  _so_  nice, but-" she slapped her hand to her face and laughed, a hint of blush creeping up on her cheeks, "Oh my God, it was such a nightmare."

He watched her reaction curiously as she kept giggling and finally said, "Okay, so.  _Seemed_  nice, but apparently I was completely wrong, because I thought we were going out to a restaurant or something, but he drove me to this house in the middle of nowhere and wouldn't tell me why, so at that point I was texting friends because I was sincerely concerned I might get murdered or something-"

Ben's eyes shot wide, "He didn't try to-"

"No, no," Rey waved him off, "Nothing like that. It turned out he was bringing me to a  _family reunion_." She giggle-snorted again, and took another shot, "Family. Reunion. On the first date."

"Wow," Ben chuckled, "Yeah, that's pretty bad."

"It gets a  _lot_  worse. He seemed like he genuinely needed a friend to get him through it, so I figured I'd suck it up and keep him company, but apparently he'd just gone through a rough breakup, and his family loved his ex so much, they'd invited her."

He blinked, and sipped at his shot, horrified by her story, "So, not only did this guy bring you to a family reunion, but his  _ex_  was there? Wow."

Rey nodded, and said, "The best part was that his family spent the entire time comparing us. I ended up dodging them most of the time, and hey, the food was great, but one of his drunk uncles kept hitting on me and-"

"You win," Ben groaned, "That is the worst date story I've ever heard. Please tell me you didn't go out with him again."

"Of course I didn't," she cracked up, her nose wrinkling adorably, " _Never_. I didn't even talk to him again after that. He was so embarrassed he transferred to a different calc section."

He'd take her to a bookstore. They could recommend books to each other, and then maybe they could walk to a nearby restaurant and get dinner, and he could buy her flowers from a street vendor. Or they could even just go back to his place and relax on his couch together while they read and eat takeout or-

Ben sucked in a quick breath. The odds of that ever happening were slim to none, and there was no point in getting his hopes up. He was pretty sure the rum and shared hatred for a common enemy was the only reason they were communicating so easy, so there wasn't much point in date-planning.

"Truth or Dare, Ben," she chirped, seeming considerably happier than she normally would be. The flattering flush on her cheeks suggested the rum was having a positive effect.

The alcohol was warming him, too, and he shrugged, "What the hell? Truth."

She thought for a minute, and said, "As this is going to be my first round of parent-teacher conferences as a proper teacher, I'm curious - what's the worst interaction you've had during one?"

Ben let out a breathy laugh, "Don't worry, it won't happen to you. In the last couple of years there's just been one parent who's a regular issue - other than the ones who want to know why their kid isn't doing better, because  _obviously_  their kid is an angel and  _obviously_  they'd never slack off. Those are pretty common, but they aren't too hard to handle. The only truly terrible parent I've had to deal with is Kes' mom."

"Ah. Right," Rey nodded. "Finn even mentioned he's had problems with her. Sounds like she can get a bit handsy."

"Worse," Ben groused, "One time she claimed Kes was home sick, so it was just her and I at the meeting and I  _should_  have known better, but it was one of my first run-ins with her, so I didn't realize how far she'd take it." He grimaced, and said, "She told me she wanted me to bend her over my desk and use a ruler on her because she'd been  _bad_."

Rey let out a long whistle. " _Wow_. That takes some nerve."

"No kidding," he laughed. "She hasn't bothered me since you-" Ben hesitated, and chewed at the inside of his mouth, then decided to be a complete chicken and take a shot so he didn't have to finish the sentence.

"Right," Rey nodded knowingly, thankfully seeming less awkward about it than he was. Apparently the alcohol had hit her a bit faster than it had him, because she hummed, and said, "Well I'm happy to scare her off any time. Seeing how she was around you made my skin crawl."

Ben swallowed hard. "Oh?"

"Yeah, of course," she frowned, "If the genders were reversed it'd be a totally different story, so it sucks that she's taking advantage of the situation. I'd even consider making out with  _Finn_  if it made her go away."

That...hadn't exactly been the reaction he'd been looking for, but he nodded, and chuckled, "Poe might have a problem with that, but I get what you mean." He worked his lips together, and finally said, "Okay, truth or dare?"

As per usual, she picked truth, and Ben asked curiously, "What's the best kiss you've ever had?"

Her eyes flashed up to his, and the corners of her lips quirked up slightly. She seemed to be considering an answer, but shook her head and poured herself a shot, and took it. If nothing else, he at least had partial confirmation they were more or less on the same page.

It had been the best kiss he'd ever experienced, too.

* * *

After another hour, six more questions that mostly devolved into unplanned drinks, laughter, and bitching about their coworkers and chosen career, Ben realized they'd somehow ended up on the floor, leaning against a cabinet. His brain was fuzzy and the bottle was a  _lot_ more empty than it had been and-

Was it his turn?

He wasn't even sure anymore, so he interrupted Rey's giggling to ask, "Your turn? Truth? Again?"

"Again," she laughed, "More truth!"

"Are you ever going to pick dare?" Ben drawled, "I have good dares.  _Such_  good dares. C'mon, pick a dare."

"Just ask me a question, Solo," she giggled, taking another swig of the bottle. At some point they'd stopped pouring and just started passing the bottle back and forth.

He snorted, and gave in, asking, "What was the worst part about your time in high school?"

Regret sunk in the moment he saw her face drop, and become serious. She sucked in a breath and said softly, cradling the bottle, "Most of the bad shit happened when I was a kid, but I missed a lot of the normal stuff. Sports, clubs, dating, you know." She cringed, and admitted after another quick drink, "It was hard since I didn't have money, and I never lucked out with foster parents. I always wished I'd gone to a school dance. No one asked, and-"

"Really? You never went to one?" Ben interrupted quietly.

"Nope," she bit her lip, "Just as well, though."

Rey shrugged, but even while drunk-ish, Ben wasn't blind to the fact that it bothered her, "I wouldn't have known what to do. Not much of a dancer."

Ben blinked, and made a decision that was either brilliant, or incredibly stupid, but he was going to do it anyway. He stood up, and her eyes followed him as her brows furrowed with curiosity at his actions. He'd had  _just_  enough rum to think this was a great plan.

He took out his phone, and found a song he'd only listened to once or twice, and hit play. It was a beautiful and ethereal cover of a great classic rock song - easily a million times better than the sort of crap they played at most high school dances - and he put his phone down on the table as the music started. Taking the bottle from her hands, he tossed back another drink, and sucked up the nerve to hold out a hand to Rey, who was still sitting on the floor, looking up at him in confusion.

"Dance with me?" he asked. He said it softly enough so he could deny it if she thought he was completely ridiculous.

Rey's expression morphed into one of shock, or maybe a little bit of amazement, as she asked, not unkindly, "Are you doing something  _nice?_ " She let out a breathy laugh, and said, "We'll have to mark this day on a calendar."

Ben rolled his eyes, "C'mon, sweetheart, work with me here."

For the first time she actually smiled faintly at the pet name, and hesitated for a painful, worrisome moment before finally reaching up and placing her hand in his. Her skin was soft, and smooth, and he was a bit surprised by how small her hand was in his.

He pulled her up gently, and took a deep breath before wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I should warn you, I  _really_  don't know what I'm doing," she admitted. "I'm also possibly drunk. Ish."

Ben shrugged, "Me too, so this'll be a disaster." He laughed as he pulled her close, and let her wrap her arms around his neck as they started swaying together to the music, "Seems par for the course for us though, don't you think?"

She snorted, and even giggled-

_Oh, wow_  that was adorable.

-and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she said, "We  _are_ a bit of a trainwreck, aren't we? I'm pretty sure everyone-"

Ben didn't really catch much more of what she said. He was too focused on the smattering of freckles and her dimples, and the way she laughed and smiled and...how had he not made it his goal to make her smile more often? Rey was beautiful even when she scowled, but when she smiled?

When she smiled, it was like he'd forgotten how to breath.

His hearing returned just in time to hear her ask, "-or dare?"

"Dare," he said instinctively.

Rey chewed at her lip, somehow inching a bit closer as she tightened her arms around him and murmured, "Sorry, I'm terrible at coming up with these...uhm…" she winced, suggesting weakly, "I dare you to...do something that scares you? Ugh, that's a terrible one-"

"Perfect," he interrupted, clearing his throat, "Something that scares me? Anything?"

Doe eyes met his and she seemed to see the look that was undoubtedly in his eyes, because her jaw dropped a little, and just as she nodded, he sucked in a breath and bent down until his lips were less than an inch from hers, but stopped when she murmured, "Ben, what are you doing?"

"Something that scares me," he admitted, whispering, "Do you mind?"

Ben felt her take in a shuddering breath, just before lifting up on her toes to close the distance between them. She still seemed a bit surprised at her own actions at first, but melted against him quickly, and he reached up to cup her face and cradled her in his arms, still swaying to the music.

Rey gasped as his tongue started licking into her mouth, and he used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, arching her back over his arm. Ben groaned as her fingers tangled in his hair, and-

Maybe it was a bad decision, but she didn't seem to mind as he slowly moved them, backing her toward the counter as he played at her lip with his teeth. When he felt her back press against the surface, he tightened the arm around her, and lifted her to sit on the counter's edge. Her eyelashes fluttered against his skin as her eyes shot open in surprise, and then slowly closed again as he drew her back into an all-consuming kiss.

He stood between her legs and held her close as their lips, tongues, and hands explored each other. Rey's hands ended up sliding down from his hair and for what might have been the first time in his life, Ben let go, allowing her to do as she pleased. Part of him worried she'd pull away and maybe even slap him, but instead she reached up and tugged his face further down, working against his lips slowly, and passionately, and  _oh_ , it wasn't just him, was it?

She felt it, too. The physical part, at least.

The best path would have probably been to stay quiet and let her keep pulling him under with the gentlest and sweetest kiss he'd had, but either the rum, or the stupid little voice in his head prompted him to break away for a moment, and murmur against her lips, "Sweetheart, I-" he took a deep breath and asked the question he was more than a little afraid to hear the answer to, "Don't you hate me?"

Rey was a bit flushed, and her lips had turned a bit darker, and were maybe a bit more swollen, and even in the dim light of the room, he could see the soft look that crossed her expressive face. "No. No, I don't hate you," she said, after a moment, " _You_  hate  _me_."

"I don't hate you," Ben breathed. He dropped his head to rest on her shoulder, and muttered, "I  _wish_  I hated you. It would be a lot easier if I did. Rey, I mean this in the nicest way, but you're  _so_  fucking frustrating sometimes. Things were so much easier before you got here. I had a  _routine_  and my life was quiet, and simple and-"

"Wow, Ben," she huffed, pulling back a little, "You really know how to compliment a woman. You know-"

"Rey, you didn't let me finish," he said softly, lifting his head back to stare down at her, "Things were easier. They weren't  _better_." Her expression softened a bit, and he sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, "It's like you flipped my world upside down.  _Literally_ , in some cases. I'm still not sure I've forgiven you for what you did to my books."

"They look much better now," she grumbled, "I'm really not sure why that was such a big deal."

Ben rolled his eyes, "Aesthetics weren't my main concern while organizing them. It takes me half my break to find a single book now." He shook his head, "That's not really my point, though. You just-  _god_  you drive me insane, and you have no idea how often I'm pissed off with you, and you can be  _such_ a bitch sometimes, but-"

"Yeah, I think I've heard enough," she said dryly.

"-but I can't stop thinking about you."

Rey froze, and her eyes flashed up to his, as she asked flatly, "What?"

"I can't stop thinking about you," he admitted. "It doesn't make any sense at all, and maybe I'm just losing my mind, but...but I think I need to know, Rey. Am I crazy? Is it just me? Because if it is-"

Before he could start rambling, Rey cut him off with a tender kiss, then murmured against his lips, "It's not just you."

Ben pulled back and looked down at her in disbelief, but he didn't get the chance to say anything before the doorknob to the lounge they were in started jiggling. For whatever reason, his instinct was to jump back, and Rey slid off the counter just as a custodian opened the door and frowned at them, likely confused by the fact that they were still there.

* * *

For some reason, Rey wasn't entirely glad they'd been released from the teacher's lounge. She certainly hadn't anticipated feeling that way, hours earlier, when they'd discovered they'd been locked in a room together but…

All she could think of was how his arms felt around her, and how his lips felt when they were pressed to hers.

The thoughts overwhelmed her mind the entire time they sat in the back of their Uber driver's car, and Rey couldn't help but glance over at him. His face was lit softly by the glow of the streetlights as he stared out the car's window, and he seemed intent on giving her whatever sort of space he apparently thought she might need.

They'd both been a bit too drunk to drive home safely and since they were headed back to the same building they'd amicably chosen to split an Uber and now... _now_  she realized there was another upside to doing so. Sharing a ride allowed her to slide her hand over, across the seat, and lace her fingers with his.

Ben's gaze shot from out the window to down at their hands, then up to her. He looked a little confused, a little overwhelmed, but in a good way, and- well, a  _lot_  vulnerable. She smiled softly at him, was about to say something when the car stopped, and she realized they were idling in front of their building, so she thanked the driver, and pulled Ben out of the car through her door.

He seemed content to follow her into their building, but just as she started to pull him up the stairs to her apartment, he stopped, and tugged at her hand so she'd turn around and face him. Dark eyes gazed down at her as he said softly, "Rey, are you sure this is a good idea?"

She hesitated, and bit her lip, asking, "Stay the night? Just...stay with me?" Her heart started pounding as she looked up at him and whispered, "Ben, I know I'm not alone on this."

If he said no, or scoffed at her or-

A million different painful scenarios played out in her mind. Various ways he could reject her and laugh, and embarrass the hell out of her echoed in her, and Rey hadn't imagined the scenario where he took a deep breath, cupped her face in both his hands, and then said quietly, "No...you're not alone."

She hadn't thought that was a possibility, but that's exactly what he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	9. Consequences 101

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

_She hesitated, and bit her lip, asking, "Stay the night? Just...stay with me?" Her heart started pounding as she looked up at him and whispered, "Ben, I know I'm not alone on this."_

_If he said no, or scoffed at her or-_

_A million different painful scenarios played out in her mind. Various ways he could reject her and laugh, and embarrass the hell out of her echoed in her, and Rey hadn't imagined the scenario where he took a deep breath, cupped her face in both his hands, and then said quietly, "No...you're not alone."_

_She hadn't thought that was a possibility, but that's exactly what he did._

* * *

The moment her apartment door shut behind her, Ben's mouth was on hers, caressing and sucking at her lips with the sort of fervor she'd never experienced. His arms wrapped around her and tangled in her hair and she held on to massively broad shoulders and slid her tongue against his, kissing him like she was starved.

Just after her hands started pawing at the buttons of his shirt, he sighed softly against her lips and pulled back, looked down at her with a somewhat dejected smile. "We can't do this," he groaned, sounding like he already regretted the words.

Rey huffed. It was pretty clear they both wanted to, so she really was sure what the problem was.

After an awkward moment of silence, he seemed to realize she mildly annoyed, and possibly starting to feel rejected, and he tucked a hand under her chin, and lifted it until their eyes met. "Sweetheart, you're drunk. Trust me, it has nothing to do with whether or not I want to. I'd just feel terrible if we did and you woke up tomorrow wishing we hadn't."

That...made sense, and somehow annoyed her more, but Ben didn't let her stew, and instead, scooped her up into his arms and started walking toward her bedroom. Her head spun from the movement and she let out a soft whine, and rested her head on his chest, realizing he was probably right.

He set her on the edge of her bed, sitting upright, and knelt down in front of her, asking quietly, "Hey, I'm going to get you some water. You okay here for a minute?"

There were drums, somewhere. Maybe in her head? Rey winced, and nodded, noticing that all the drinking had finally started catching up to her. Ben gave her a sympathetic smile, and stood, walking off toward her kitchen, and as she heard water running, she pulled off her sweater and jeans, and went in search of pajamas-

" _Fuck."_

When Rey glanced back, Ben was standing in her doorway, holding a glass of water and a small bottle she assumed was some sort of pain reliever. He sucked in a breath and coughed, obviously taking the opportunity to take in the view of her in what she thought was a fairly plain nude bra and a pair of black boyshorts. He blinked, and spun until he was facing a wall, then started muttering apologies, and for some reason all she could do was giggle.

She slipped on a long, oversized t-shirt that skimmed her thighs, and said, "You're fine, I'm decent."

"How is not having pants on considered  _decent_?" he teased, then shook his head, "Nevermind, I'm an idiot, I can't believe I was about to argue that you should put more on. Please, ignore me."

"I usually do," she laughed.

Ben rolled his eyes, but smiled, and gestured for her to get in bed. She climbed under her covers and scooted over a bit so he could sit on the edge of it, and he handed her a couple pills that she gulped almost immediately with the glass of water he'd set on her nightstand.

After a moment, he reached over to caress her face, and pulled her a little closer to kiss her forehead. "You should get some sleep, Rey. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Rey frowned, and grabbed his hand before he stood up, trying not to sound too vulnerable as she whispered, "I thought you'd stay."

It took him a minute to respond, but he finally asked, "You really want me to?"

She nodded and patted the side of her bed.

Ben swallowed hard, and climbed into the bed next to her, letting her settle down against his chest. She'd never fallen asleep so quickly in her life.

* * *

Sunlight pricked at Rey's eyes as an alarm went off, and she felt a languid warmth throughout her limbs that made her want to nestle in deeper and ignore the obnoxious little ringing noise. She whined softly when it didn't stop, and burrowed further into the-

Her eyes snapped open. She was  _not_  alone.

Rey had never woken up with someone in her bed before and it was more than a little unsettling. Sure, she'd slept with people, but she'd sure as hell never let anyone  _stay_ , because her space was  _her space_.

Currently,  _her space_  was being cuddled tightly by a massive furnace with arms.

She wiggled a little, mostly just to turn around to face the invading heat that seemed content to just hold her close, and  _that_  was when she realized he was spooning her, cupping her breast while hardness pressed up against her ass and…

What the  _hell_  had she done last night?

Concentrating hard, she remembered being locked in a room, rum, Truth and Dare, and... _oh_. They'd danced, and kissed, and... _oh_.

Holy. Shit.

She was in bed with  _Ben_. The craziest part was, she was pretty damn sure him being there had been  _her_  idea. And, holy shit, she'd told him all sorts of stuff during their drinking game, and...wow.

Rey was doomed. He'd be giving her shit for this for  _ages_.

Panic rose in her chest, and was swiftly replaced with confusion when she felt his voice whisper, "You awake sweetheart? We should probably talk about everything before we go to work."

His arms tightened around her, and that's when she remembered a couple more things about the evening they'd spent together.

_-but I can't stop thinking about you._

_No...you're not alone._

"Ben," she breathed, "Did we…"

His response was an immediate, "No, no, definitely not. Not that we didn't want to, you were just kind of drunk and I didn't think that'd be a great idea."

Well, that was definitely a point in his favor, because Rey was pretty sure she remembered getting mostly naked in front of him and being fairly disappointed when he'd made it clear they shouldn't have sex. Not all guys would have been thoughtful enough to put on the brakes, and she sighed with relief, "Thanks, for that."

She turned in his arms and found herself staring at a shockingly impressive chest, and she looked up to see him studying her curiously. Maybe it was the leftover alcohol in her system, but her brain provided her the very vivid and realistic mental image of this tall nerd lifting books while shirtless and  _wow_  it was suddenly hot in his arms.

Rey very certainly did  _not_  pinch the bare skin in front of her to check its firmness. She didn't.

She  _really_  wanted to though.

"How much do you remember?" he asked cautiously.

Rey gave him a soft smile, and said, "All of it, I think. And thank you. You were…" she bit her lip, "you were very sweet last night."

"I  _am_  capable of that," Ben chuckled, and she couldn't help but notice he was just as undressed as her, and  _wow_  the arms that were wrapped around her and holding her close felt so strong, and - her oncoming day-dream was halted by him saying, "So we should probably talk." He hesitated, and added quietly, "I think last night made it clear that there are some...feelings, here. Between us, I mean."

Relief flooded her when she realized he was just caught up in it as she was, and she shut her eyes, and sighed. His hand slid, fairly innocently down her back, pulling her a little closer, and Rey couldn't help but gasp softly as he said, "I meant everything I said, sweetheart."

"Did you really?" she breathed, looking up at him with wide eyes.

Ben gave her a soft half-smile, and slid over to press his lips to her forehead, murmuring, "Of course I did." He pulled away slowly, and said, " _But_ , we've spent the last six months being kind of awful to each other. What would you think of figuring out how to be friends?" He paused, seeming concerned with her reaction, and explained shyly, "I really like you and I don't think we'd be doing ourselves any favors if we jumped into something serious. What if we figure out how to be coworkers and friends first? Would that be okay?"

Somehow, even more relief sunk into her, and she nodded. It's like he'd read her mind.

"I'm not sure I mentioned this last night," Rey said quietly, "but I usually have a hard time with this sort of thing. Relationships, I mean. They always end with someone wanting to change me and make me less…" she shrugged, "self-reliant, I guess." She hesitated, and looked up at him, explaining, "I've always had to take care of myself, and I'm not very good at letting someone take care of me. That tends to piss men off, as far as I've noticed. So far, everyone's tried to change that about me."

Ben nodded knowingly, and said, "There are things I want to change, but not about who you are. I think we need to figure out how to talk without getting defensive or rude, and I think we need to figure out how to understand each other better, but…" his lips curled into a bit of a smile as he breathed, "Maybe I'm crazy, but I think you're perfect."

He grinned, and leaned in again to press his lips to her forehead, and Rey found herself humming, and teasing, "Do friends kiss their friends?"

"Shut up," he muttered playfully, "You're the one who asked your  _friend_  to spend the night in your bed."

"We weren't friends then," she corrected, "We hadn't defined anything, so it doesn't count. Plus,  _you_  are the one who apparently took his shirt off."

"You undressed first, sweetheart, and I haven't heard you complaining yet," Ben snarked back, "But please, keep it up. I've been meaning to ask you for clarification about that whole  _batteries_  thing. Is  _that_  something friends talk about?"

Rey couldn't help but giggle as his hands found a particularly ticklish spot at her waist, and his eyes started glowing with malicious glee, "Oh, are you  _ticklish?_ " he laughed, "Well, if I'd known  _that-"_

She shrieked, and nearly rolled off the bed with laughter, and at some point in the playfulness, he ended up rolling over her, and he  _finally_  stopped the tickling. Ben smiled down at her broadly, and murmured, "Yeah, I think we're going to be fine."

* * *

Ben had reluctantly left her place (after another  _friendly_  forehead kiss - he really just couldn't help himself) to use his own shower and get dressed, and met Rey outside so they could share an Uber back to the school since they'd done the smart thing and left their cars there overnight. Thankfully they arrived well before buses started arriving, and walked into the building together without students seeing (not that it'd be a massive problem, but Ben could only imagine the sort of rumors that would have started flying around).

He stopped halfway through the doors to the building and realized he hadn't had a chance to stop and get his morning coffee, and turned to Rey, "You go ahead, I'm going to get to the coffee shop. After last night, I'll be a mess by noon if I don't get some caffeine."

Rey groaned, and nodded. "I'd love to join you, but I was supposed to get some grading done last night and obviously that didn't happen, so I'm going to get to our office and see what I can wrap up before class starts."

"I'll get your usual," Ben offered, smiling at her before he turned and walked away. He didn't miss the way she seemed completely surprised that he knew her usual, and…

Something in his heart warmed at the fact that he did. That's when it clicked - they may have spent  _months_  nearly hating (or pretending/trying to hate) each other, but they'd also spent it sharing an office, and similar routines, and along the way, they'd sort of gotten to know each other.

Part of him wondered if he should have been disappointed that they weren't jumping into something, but for some reason, he couldn't help but just be overwhelmingly happy that, now, when she looked at him, she  _smiled_.

Ben hadn't realized how amazing that would be.

When he arrived at their office, a tray with two coffees in his hand, Finn was sitting on the edge of Rey's desk, apologizing profusely while she listened with her arms crossed, and unimpressed look on her face.

"Peanut, I'm  _sorry_ , it wasn't my idea, but put yourself in my shoes. You argue constantly, and after what Hux said, it just made sense."

"Finn," she hissed, "You mentioned  _batteries_. That was completely uncalled for!"

Ben snorted and rolled his eyes, walking over to hand her the cup, "Here you go, sweetheart." He looked to Finn and sighed, "Don't bother trying talking your way out of it. Good intentions or not, Rey's right. You shared some really personal information of hers and while I may have personally appreciated it, she has every right to be annoyed."

Finn just stared at him blankly for a moment before stammering, "I- I'm sorry, are you defending her?" He looked over at Rey questioningly, "And...did you just get her coffee?" A big smile grew over his face. "Holy  _shit_ , it worked, didn't it? You guys aren't all mad at each other!"

"No, we're not," Rey grumbled, "But I am massively hungover, so thanks for that. Just...let me drink my coffee in peace, okay? And don't go reporting back to Poe, I don't need him bragging or thinking it's helpful to go around locking his coworkers in rooms. It's  _not_  a good form of conflict management, no matter what any of you think."

"Dunno Peanut," Finn smirked, "Seems like it worked pretty well."

Ben watched quietly as Rey's stare turned more into a hardened glare. "Okay, Finn," he piped in, before she  _truly_  snapped, "C'mon, we're both sort of hungover, maybe you can come back and brag some other time, yeah?"

Finn seemed to understand that Ben was trying to rescue him from a brutal and painful death at Rey's hands, so he nodded, and left, giving them both a slight wave on his way out.

She clutched at her coffee like it was a lifeline, guzzling it down. "Thanks for that," she sighed, "My head is pounding and he was pissing me off a bit."

Ben hummed. "I have a solution for both of your problems." He walked around to where she was sitting and leaned against her desk, smiling as he reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "There's ibuprofen in my desk for your headache, and as far as our friends pissing you off…"

His lips curled into a malicious grin, and Rey tilted her head, asking curiously, with a tone of amusement, "What?"

Ben chuckled, and asked, "I think someone needs to teach our friends that there are consequences to their actions. How do you feel about getting revenge?"

* * *

Rey had never been more thankful that her and Ben lived close to the school, because it meant they'd be able to enact their revenge that very day.

Ben had ducked out of class a couple times that morning to collect (read: steal) the key rings of their four targets: Finn, Hux, Poe, and, surprisingly  _Rose_. Apparently she'd had a heavy hand in it, and Rey was torn between feeling completely betrayed, and somewhat amused that she'd gotten involved in the trouble making.

While he was collecting key rings, she snuck into the main office between classes and was thrilled to find a grand total of  _six_  long-abandoned rings of keys. She wasn't entirely sure what Ben's plan was, but internally she was cackling with evil glee at the idea of  _revenge_.

Ben was leaning against his car with a shit-eating grin when she arrived outside during their planning period (which happened to be scheduled at the same time that day), and when she climbed into the passenger's seat, he paused, and swore.

"What is it?" she asked, frowning. "And what's the plan for all these keys anyway? We've got like fifty of them now."

He snorted and said, "I'll tell you when we get to my place, but I forgot something...do you happen to have any boxes of quick-set jello at your apartment?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	10. Advanced Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.

Rey adored her little apartment. She hadn't been there very long, but over the six months since she'd moved in, she'd collected pieces of furniture here and there, and it was starting to become quite comfortable and homey.

Her apartment was great, but Ben's? His was something entirely different.

It had the same layout as hers, but that and the shocking amount of books were the only things they had in common.

Gorgeously detailed rugs in rich jewel-tones covered almost every part of the hardwood floors, and Rey was greeted by the delicious scent of  _book_  the moment she walked in, probably because almost every wall of Ben's living room was lined with dark hardwood bookcases, filled to the brim with more books than she'd seen outside a bookstore or library. The space was dimly lit with lamps that put out a soft glow, giving a warm, unbelievably cozy feel to the whole place.

She'd followed him, trying to keep her jaw from hanging, into his kitchen, which was almost identical to hers, minus the dishes she still hadn't done and all the baking supplies.

Finally, he set the box of keys they'd collected on his stove and looked over at her with a grin. "Want to hear the plan? It...I'm not going to lie, it's kind of evil."

The way he said those last few words, coupled with the smile he bore, inspired feelings in her that were probably not entirely  _friendly_  for her former  _nemesis slash officemate_. What was worse (better?) was the fact that she didn't even have the benefit of alcohol to blame it on.

"Considering what they did to us, they deserve it," Rey grumbled. She reached into her purse and pulled out the five boxes of jello she'd had at her apartment, and asked, "Is it okay that they're different flavors? Lime doesn't seem like it'd go well with grape."

Ben smirked. "Nobody's going to be eating this, trust me." He paused, and said, "Okay, so, we're going to take all the keys off every keyring - the ones from our friends  _and_  the random ones you found in the office. We're going to mix them all together and set them in jello, so it takes them a while to figure out whose keys are whose."

"Hmm." Rey considered it for a moment. It was a  _good_  plan, but it just wasn't quite evil enough. As a nice reminder of the depths of their friend's assholery, her hangover-headache twinged, and Rey winced, then said, "Not good enough. I mean it's  _good_ , but I have a couple of ideas on how to make it better."

He took out a large pot to start boiling water, and she stopped him. She remembered a particular pain in the ass mess she'd had to help clean up during her internship. "Wait, do you have skim milk? If we use skim milk instead of some of the water, it'll make the jello opaque, so they won't be able to see the keys inside the mold."

His grin grew malicious, and he nodded.

"And I like the idea of mixing them all in," she added, " _but_  what if we decide to be purposely misleading? We pour four containers, and label each one with our friend's names, but the keys just get mixed in at random."

Ben tilted his head, and quirked his lips, clarifying, "So, Poe could go through his and end up with Rose's house keys, Finn's car keys, and then a bunch of random ones?"

"Exactly," she laughed. "Just imagine, they'll think  _no big deal_ , and then they find out the keys are still mixed at random. It'll just give them a bit of false hope."

He just stared at her for a moment before throwing his head back in laughter. "You're  _so_  fucking evil, and I love it." He shook his head, and laughed more, "Okay, I can work on the jello - do you mind taking all the keys off their rings?

Rey grinned evilly, and winked, "Not a problem."

It took  _maybe_  an hour to complete the process, and they both rushed back to school in time for their afternoon classes. Rey struggled through two chem classes, desperately trying not to laugh, and when the final bell rang, she met Ben back at their office.

He shut the door behind him, saying quietly, "Sounds like nobody's noticed their missing keys. The jello's been in the fridge for a couple hours, so it should be set."

Rey couldn't help but cackle for a moment, and said, "You know our phones are going to blow up when they figure it out, right?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "Want to hang out and deal with the shitstorm together? Maybe order a pizza and laugh at their misery?"

After a few seconds she smiled broadly at him, and nodded. "That sounds like a  _perfect_  evening, actually. Who knew we'd end up bonding over fucking with our friends?"

Ben snorted, "Hey, they started it."

* * *

A little less than an hour later, once Ben and Rey were relaxing on Ben's couch and watching The X-Files over a pizza, the texts started flooding in.

Rey cackled and read off, "Okay, this one's from Finn:  _Peanut what have you done? Did you join forces with the devil? How could you do this to me?_ " She laughed again, saying, "Just wait 'til he finds out it was my idea to make things even worse."

"I got one from Hux," Ben snorted, " _Did you seriously put my shit in jello again? I know that was you last time_." He huffed, "It wasn't, actually - I think it was Dameron, but he still doesn't believe me."

Their phones were getting flooded, and Rey wasn't sure about what Ben was receiving, but most of the texts she'd read were filled with swears, and she threw her head back in laughter, tears streaming down her face as she read a new one that had come in from Poe. She could barely catch her breath, nevermind read it out loud, so she handed the phone to Ben.

"Oh my God," Ben breathed, "This is amazing. That was a  _brilliant_  idea." He read off the text, " _Did you motherfuckers label these containers at random? None of these keys are mine!"_

Rey was still laughing so hard, her breathing was coming in heaves. Ben looked over at her, chuckling and asked, "Uh, you okay over there, sweetheart?"

She nodded, not really able to produce words yet, and tried to focus on taking deep breaths, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sorry," she said, "this was just the best prank I've ever pulled, and their reactions are amazing."

"Did you catch your breath? Because one just came in on your phone from Rose and I want to make sure you can breath before I read it out."

"Oh,  _please_  read it," Rey laughed, "I'm good, I promise."

Ben rolled his eyes playfully, and read, " _Guess you didn't swipe my spare keys, but you two are assholes, because now everyone's coming to my place for the night while we sort this out. Why are there like, fifty keys here, and-"_ Rey's phone started vibrating, "Oh, shit, they're trying to call us now."

"Don't answer!" Rey shouted, grinning gleefully, "Let them suffer!"

He looked over at her as if he wasn't sure if he was mildly horrified, or completely impressed. "Don't worry, sweetheart," he laughed, "I'm all for letting them suffer. They literally locked us in a room and demanded photo evidence of injury before letting us out - they deserve this."

Ben looked back to his own phone, and snorted, "Looks like they've resorted to name-calling and crashing at Rose's place. Mission accomplished!"

Rey laughed, and held up the beer she'd been sipping at, and Ben leaned over to clink his bottle against hers. She nodded, and echoed his words, "Mission accomplished."

* * *

When Hux showed up at their office the next morning, looking pissed off and disheveled, and wearing the same clothes he'd had on the previous day, Rey and Ben were toasting with coffee from their own desks, smiling innocently as if they'd had no involvement in the previous day's events.

"G'morning Hux," Ben said, completely serious. "Nice to see you rocking that whole walk-of-shame thing. Any students catch you on the way in?"

Hux for his part looked apoplectic, and seemed to be purposefully looking between the two of them as if he couldn't tell which of them to dunk in a trash basket first.

"Oh, this….this is just  _lovely,_ " the man snarked, "How  _nice_  to see you two getting along, you pair of deviants."

Ben nearly spit out his coffee, and had to bite back a laugh as he gave his friend a big sunny smile, "It's all thanks to you, Hux. Just think, none of this would have happened without you."

"Yeah, Hux," Rey nodded, seeming to struggle not to grin, "We really owe you a thank-you."

The man just scowled and crossed his arms, "You two are  _monsters_. You know we spent all night cleaning off our keys and I can't, for the life of me, figure out which one goes to my house? I'm going to have to fucking test half of them!"

"That sounds  _really_  rough, Hux," Rey mocked, pouting, "Wouldn't it be such a shame if your house key wasn't even in the mix?" Ben's gaze shot over to her, and he almost lost it at the slow smirk that grew over her face as she reached into her purse and held up a single silver key, "Wouldn't it just be  _so_  frustrating to find out you spent the whole night looking for it, just to find out it wasn't even there to begin with?"

An outraged gasp left Hux as he shot forward to snatch the key from Rey's hand, hissing, "You  _evil bitch_ , I had to sleep on a floor, you know!"

Rey just continued grinning, and Ben tossed his head back, letting out full belly laughs.

Hux huffed, and shook his head, glancing back and forth between the two of them as they continued to laugh at him. "You two are the  _worst_. You deserve each other!" He let out one final puff of angry breath, and stormed out of their office.

After Ben had finally calmed down and caught his breath, he looked over at Rey, and snorted. "That was amazing. I can't believe you did that."

She bit her lip, and winced, "You don't think I went too far?"

Ben waved her off, "Please, he got to sleep over at Rose's. If anything, we helped the guy out. He's been trying to figure out how to ask her out all year."

She thought for a minute, and smiled softly, "I think I have an idea."

"Does it involve more jello?" Ben chuckled.

"No, no, it's not a prank, we don't always have to be terrible," she scolded. "What if we all went somewhere together? We could go bowling or something. The four of us - or, maybe the six of us if we want to invite Poe and Finn."

Ben tried to keep the smile off his face and out of his voice as he asked subtly, "Like...a date?"

The blush that formed across her cheeks was downright adorable as she stammered through some sort of weak clarification, "Just- no, just like- group...bonding? Or something?"

Right. Yeah, because they'd -  _he'd -_  specifically said they should figure out how to be friends.

Part of Ben was seriously starting to regret that, but to his past self's credit, Rey…

Well, somehow Rey was already starting to seem like the sort of person he wanted to have stick around. For a while. A long time, maybe. If she wanted, so he could see why it'd be beneficial to have some sort of foundation that wasn't built with anger, snipping, and hurt.

But the soft smile that formed on her pink lips when he agreed to the  _group bonding_  still took his breath away.

* * *

According to the grumbly, pissy texts they compared for the rest of the week, it seemed their friends had finally gotten their correct keys back about three days after the  _jello_  prank, and it took another couple of weeks for everyone to stop being bitter about it.

Rey didn't really care. She agreed with Ben, and firmly believed their friends deserved it, and once everyone returned from holiday break, it was all in the past.

...she  _may_ have spent half of her holiday break on Ben's couch while they watched cheesy holiday movies and specifically  _did not_  address the subtle tension in the room. If she fell asleep on his shoulder, it was entirely unintentional, and...friends  _did_  kiss each other's foreheads, right?

Well, they certainly did now. After all, Ben's lips were so incredibly plush and soft, and-

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted, walking up to her with a couple pairs of bowling shoes, completely missing the way she was staring at his mouth.

Rey snapped out of it quickly, and sent him a grateful smile as she took the shoes from him and sat on a bench to start lacing them up. "So, when's everyone getting here?" she asked, really,  _desperately_  trying not to just grab him and kiss him. They  _said_  they'd be friends, and wow, it was going incredibly, but there were so many little moments when she thought he'd kiss her again.

Moments when he'd handed her a mug of coffee, and smiled at her like he couldn't quite believe she was there. Moments when she closed her eyes and laughed at something he'd said, and opened her eyes again to see that he was staring at her. Moments when she was mostly asleep during a movie, and he leaned over his couch to cover her with a blanket.

Months earlier, when she looked at him, all she really thought of were the moments when he'd interrupted her move-in to shout at her, or when he'd belittled her in front of their coworkers... _or_  the moments when he'd only been trying to be nice, and she'd intentionally hurt him.

But now? Now when she looked at him her heart warmed, and all she could do was smile.

Ben finished the last knot on his shoes and glanced up at her curiously. He didn't seem to know what to make of the expression on her face, which was undoubtedly a cross between dopey and love-sick ( _whoa_ ), but he snorted and teased, "So, do you think your ego can handle you getting completely destroyed at bowling?"

She rolled her eyes, "You're going to regret saying that, especially when I kick your ass."

"Sure, sweetheart," he chuckled, "keep telling yourself that." He paused, and finally answered her question, "Hux said he just picked Rose up and they're headed here. Not sure about Finn and Poe."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon," Rey shrugged. "You know Poe, he's always running late anyway." That's when a thought crossed her mind, and she remembered what her side goal for the day was. She took a deep breath, and said, "Right, I forgot, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

His eyes shot up to hers, and he glanced at her curiously. "What's up?"

"Well, remember that Science Museum field trip I'd been working on?" She bit her lip as an apologetic look crossed his face. Ben nodded, and she continued, "Well...obviously there were a lot of things I didn't think about before, and I'm putting together the proposal. Would you mind helping?"

Rey wasn't entirely sure she'd ever asked for help on something before. Certainly not from someone she hadn't known for long. Even before she'd accepted her teaching position, she'd been planning to sleep in her car for a while, until Finn found out and demanded she stay with him. She just didn't  _like_  relying on others. All it did was give people the chance to let you down, and they always managed to at some point.

That was something she'd learned the hard way, but for some reason, when Ben smiled over at her softly, and reached out to take her hand, squeezing it gently as he nodded...for some reason, she had a good feeling about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	11. The Culture of Slang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire) for beta'ing.
> 
> Only one chapter after this! Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow, but we'll see.

Rey was  _determined_  not to fuck up the easy, comfortable peace that had settled between her and Ben. He'd spent weeks helping her prepare a field trip proposal, and bowling with their friends had gone beautifully (while managing to feel like a bit of a date, though she wasn't quite prepared to admit that to anyone but herself).

She could at least admit to herself that she'd be lying if she said her heart didn't pound a bit whenever Ben reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, or whenever he leaned down to kiss her forehead (she was happy to live in the state of denial where friends did that).

There was even that one time during a snowstorm in mid-January when she'd joined him for a blissfully silent day of reading and drinking cocoa on his couch, and just  _thinking_  of that day made her melt and feel all gooey inside.

That day, he'd tried reading chapters of  _Harry Potter_  out loud to her since the power had been knocked out and TV wasn't an option. Of course, she couldn't stop laughing at his  _terrible_  attempt at the character's accents, and after the first two pages he'd playfully rolled his eyes and shoved the book in her direction, giving up entirely.

Rey had probably surprised him a bit that day, because she'd grabbed the book and laid down across his couch with her head in his lap, and started reading (with  _proper_  accents, thank you very much). Ben hadn't stopped her, and if anything, he'd seemed quite pleased. A few minutes later, he'd started braiding her hair while he listened intently.

So...they were sort of dating,  _right?_

The thing was, Rey wasn't entirely sure, and considering their tense start, she was a bit nervous to bring it up. Unfortunately it was just easier not to.

At some point, maybe during mid-January, they'd started carpooling, and when Rey hopped in his car on a cold day in February, she realized with a little bit of awkwardness that it was  _Valentine's Day_.

Shit.

She glanced over at Ben, noticing he seemed just as put together as he normally did, with a nice, crisp white button-up and dark grey slacks under his dark wool winter jacket. His hair was a little longer, and coiffed perfectly, and she couldn't help but bite her lip and ask casually, "So, any plans for tonight?"

Ben shrugged, more than likely forgetting what day it was, "No more than usual. Might get some grading done."

Part of her screamed  _just kiss the man_  but...but he  _did_  have a point about them learning how to be friends first before jumping into anything. The issue was, she didn't know how long they had to be friends before she finally got to-

"What about you?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts, which were quickly threatening to become quite x-rated.

Was he trying to figure out if she had Valentine's plans? If he knew she didn't, would he ask?

Rey blushed, and shook her head, "Nope. No plans."

He just nodded, and smiled.

_Dammit._

* * *

Ben got into his classroom about twenty minutes before the first bell, feeling like a bit too much of an idiot to hang out with Rey in their office as he normally would. He shut the classroom door behind him and leaned against the door, groaning into the empty room.

" _Such an idiot,_ " he muttered to himself.

He'd had the perfect opportunity. He'd literally been practicing asking her out for Valentine's for nearly a week, and he just hadn't been able to do it. How hard would it have really been to say  _no plans, sweetheart, how's dinner sound?_

Really,  _how_  would that have been difficult? He'd had her head in his lap not three weeks ago (though, that was for entirely innocent reasons, but  _still)_ , and they'd been friends for something like two months, and they'd even kissed a few times, and seen each other nearly naked, and-

He was an idiot.

He was the biggest fucking idiot  _ever._

Ben shook his head and walked over to his desk, slumping into his desk chair, and decided to get some grading done before student started trickling in.

That's when his eyes focused in on the small, leather-bound journal that was sitting on his desk. It was similar to the ones he usually preferred, but maybe a little nicer, and it looked new. He frowned, and picked it up, inspecting it curiously, and opened it...only to find a note stuck to the first page.

_Valentine's Dinner? 7 PM? -Rey_

His jaw dropped.

After a few seconds, he jumped up out of his chair and rushed out of the classroom.

* * *

If Rey saw  _one more_ damned pink or red heart decorating a locker, she was going to start ripping them down. It was mildly infuriating that the first Valentine's she actually had someone she wanted to date, she didn't have the nerve to actually ask him out. It was unbelievably frustrating, especially since she felt as silly as one of her students who was too shy to just  _ask someone out_.

What the hell was so difficult about that?

It was all so frustrating that she nearly stormed past the roses that were sitting on her lab station at the from of her classroom. But, she  _did_  catch sight of them, out of the corner of her eye.

Rey froze, and turned back to them in slow motion. There were six beautiful red roses standing in some water in one of her flasks, and there was a small note perched in front of them. She took a deep breath, praying they weren't from anyone else ( _please not C'ai, Dear Lord)_ , and snatched the note up, reading it quickly.

_Valentine's Dinner tonight? -Ben_

Rey sucked in another breath, and smiled broadly before she turned toward her door. She rushed back into the hallway, suddenly incredibly happy their classrooms were next to each other.

Ben was already waiting for her in the hallway, wearing a massive grin, and the moment she saw him, she nodded, and said, "Yes, of course!"

At the same time, he happened to breathe, "Absolutely."

They'd spoken at the same time, and after a moment of silence, they looked at each other curiously. Rey's eyes narrowed as she asked, "Wait, why are  _you_  saying yes?"

"Because you asked me out?" he shrugged, seeming confused. "Valentine's dinner?"

Disappointment settled into her chest, and she frowned. "Uh,  _no_ , you asked  _me_  out." She held out the note, and he swapped it for the one he'd apparently been holding.

"Oh." Ben huffed, "Uh, looks like we're being pranked, or set up or something."

Rey swallowed hard, a little surprised by just  _how_  disappointed she was over the situation, and said, "Right, okay, well, sorry about that. I guess I've got some things I should get back to."

She turned and started to walk back into her classroom, but Ben called out to her, "Wait, Rey - you were saying  _yes_? To a date, on Valentine's? Like, an actual date, with me? Not as friends?"

There was hope in his voice. Hope, and a level of vulnerability she hadn't expected. Before she could turn back to face him, he'd caught her hand and spun her back, wrapping an arm around her waist as she looked up at him, genuinely surprised by his actions.

"You were saying yes," Ben murmured, staring down at her, "Weren't you?"

"So were you," she whispered, finally putting two and two together. Rey bit her lip and said, "So, you're okay with not doing just the friend-coworker thing anymore?"

The arm around her tightened, and rather than answering - or possibly,  _as_  an answer, Ben cupped and angled her face so he could lean down and capture her lips in a sweet, mind-numbing kiss. He tasted like the coffee they'd picked up on the way to the school, and  _oh_ , those lips were so incredibly perfect over hers...Ben kissed her like he was pouring months and months of  _wanting to kiss her_  into that one action, and it made her dizzy.

Her hands slid up his chest and tangled in his hair as she arched into him, and the hand around her waist roamed to the small of her back, nearly pulling her off the ground as he tugged her even closer. Rey moaned, and let his tongue slide in and against hers, and-

Bells were ringing.

She'd always thought that was just some sort of silly saying, but  _wow_ , it was like they were actually ringing.

Ben broke away quickly, flushed as he smiled down at her.

Oh. Those were literal bells going off.

 _Right_ , they were teachers, they were at work, and students would be flooding in any second now.

She blushed, thankful the last five seconds or so had all happened inside her head rather than being said out loud, and Ben pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, murmuring, "Catch up later? We can figure out what we want to do tonight?"

Warmth spread through her chest as she smiled up at him fondly, and nodded. "Sounds perfect."

Rey floated on air back to her classroom, grinning like a fool as her students started shuffling in and sitting down. Kes and Aalya, two students from the school paper who'd quickly become a couple of her favorites (not that she'd admit to having favorites) seemed to be watching her closely, and Rey narrowed her eyes at them, asking curiously, "What are you two up to?"

Aalya let out a bit of a giggle, pointed to the roses, and said, "Did someone get you flowers? On Valentine's?"

After a moment of trying not to turn red, Rey spoke up and said, "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Of course, she hadn't managed to say it without grinning, and she definitely hadn't missed the way her two favorite students not-so-subtly high-fived each other.

* * *

The day absolutely dragged, but Ben spent most of it distracted, trying to figure out what sort of date Rey would want to go on. He'd always thought the sort of dates they'd enjoy together would be simple and quiet, but they'd already done that as friends and it was  _Valentine's_. Just because he wanted  _simple and quiet_  didn't mean she would. The problem was, Ben truly wasn't sure exactly what she'd want.

Suddenly, the prospect of  _dating Rey_  was somehow almost as terrifying than the idea of never getting to date her, and that really wasn't something he'd expected.

He was still pacing around their office when she finally walked in for their planning period, carrying roses in a small glass container. She set them down and closed their office door, then walked over to where he'd frozen mid-pace, and lifted up on her toes. She grabbed his tie and pulled gently at it until he bent down and met her halfway in a soft, chaste kiss.

When Rey dropped back down to her regular height, she gave him a sympathetic look and said, "You look stressed. Is it about tonight?"

"I- I was trying to figure out where you might want to go to dinner," he admitted.

Rey snorted, "Well, as thoughtful as our students were, devising this little scheme-" she paused, and said, "I'm pretty sure it was Kes and Aalya, by the way."

"Yeah, that figures," Ben chuckled. "I think they've been trying to set us up since they asked us to both advise the club."

"You're probably right," she nodded, "Anyway, It was nice of them,  _but_ , they got something wrong. I'm not really the  _dinner date_  type, especially on Valentine's. It's kind of stressful, and a little formal. Way too much pressure, especially on a romantic holiday like this."

Ben started to feel quite a lot of relief at her words, and she continued, "How does this sound - we stop at your favorite bookshop, the one near the italian place? Maybe pick out a book or two for each other, than get Italian to go and head home?" she shrugged, "Maybe find a good movie on Netflix?"

...had she read his mind?

Ben's jaw dropped at the suggestion of what sounded like the best date he'd never had the opportunity to go on, and Rey frowned, asking, "Uh, everything okay?"

_Perfect, actually, thanks._

"Y- yeah," he stammered, "That sounds amazing. I'm just trying to figure out when you went from being my worst nightmare to my dream girl."

Ben winced at the words as soon as they'd left his mouth, but thankfully Rey just laughed and rolled her eyes, then leaned up and kissed him again.

* * *

"I can't  _believe_  you haven't read  _Pride and Prejudice_."

She rolled her eyes at Ben again, laughed, and said, "Well, I'm going to  _now_ , is that good enough?" She snatched the book out of his hand and headed over to the counter of the bookstore they'd been wandering around for nearly an hour.

Rey had only been inside once, and just the smell of all the fresh, new books was intoxicating enough to make her consider spending an entire paycheck or two there. It hadn't taken her more than a minute to completely understand why Ben liked the place so much, and she had a feeling they'd make it a regular stop whenever they went out together.

And, if Rey had it her way, they'd be going out together  _often_. Or staying in. That'd be fine, too. After all, it was entirely possible she'd spent half their time in the bookstore staring at him while he was busy looking for a book for her.

"I guess," he sighed dramatically, "but it's a shame it's taken you this long."

She crossed her arms and pointed toward the massive book he was holding, "Well, maybe  _I_ think it's ridiculous that you've never read  _The Shining_."

Ben paused, and admitted, "I've never really read horror."

"I think it's more that you don't tend to read things from the last century," she teased. "So, we pay for these, then grab food?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I called in the order while you were looking around, so it might even be ready for pickup by now."

She grinned broadly, and it seemed infectious, because he smiled back. After a moment, he asked, "Are you sure you don't mind that our Valentine's is basically just  _Netflix and Chill?"_

Well, maybe they  _were_ on the same page…

Then again, Ben seemed like he might not be the type to know and properly use slang like that. And he  _really_  didn't seem the type to suggest something like that, relatively loudly while they were in public.

He seemed to watch her curiously as Rey fish-gaped at him a little, and she stared down at her feet as she blushed and chuckled, "Uh, I'm not entirely sure that means what you think it means, Ben."

He frowned, and asked cautiously, "...Why? What's it mean?"

"Well," Rey said hesitantly, "What do you  _think_  it means?"

"I assumed it was self explanatory," Ben shrugged. "Netflix and just hanging out. Why?"

Yeah, that was about what she'd expected him to think.

Rey snorted, and let out a giggle. "Sometimes I forget we're from slightly different generations. Hm. Netflix and Chill, huh?" She gave him a bit of a salacious wink and watched as he quirked an eyebrow at her, "Why don't we pick up dinner, head back to your place, and I'll be happy to uh... _teach_ you what it usually means."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me or bug me for ETAs!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


	12. Physical Studies in Cooperative Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank-you to my handsome husband/beta/cowriter, [onfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebuildingsnotonfire/pseuds/thebuildingsnotonfire)...he wrote most of the smut for this chapter :)
> 
> I hope you've all liked this one!
> 
> Also, just a warning, this is almost entirely smut.

Possibly the most surprising difference between being on a  _date_  with Ben and just hanging out with him was that there wasn't really much of a difference. Sure, his lips now landed on hers rather than on her forehead, inciting a labyrinthine electric tingly sensation that spread down her body from that point...but otherwise, things were pretty similar. His arm still tightened around her waist as they walked down the sidewalk back to his car after picking up their food to go. He still looked down at her with a wide-eyed expression of awe, as if he wasn't sure he was awake or not.

It made Rey wonder how much easier the first half of her school year would have been if they'd been just a little less snippy and defensive every time they talked. It had taken her a little while to admit to herself that she'd been just as responsible for their hate-filled interactions as he had, and each time she'd had just as much of a chance to turn those interactions around.

The problem was, Rey wasn't good at being vulnerable, and she wasn't good at admitting she was wrong, and she certainly wasn't any good at asking for help.

But...she hadn't been able to stop thinking about the look he'd had in his eyes when he'd asked her to dance, or how nervous he'd looked just before he kissed her on a dare. And waking up in his arms had been-

Well, it had been a first. She'd expected to feel terrified, or maybe nervous. Physical intimacy hadn't been a highlight in any of her past relationships (not that she'd really had many to speak of), and she'd certainly never woken up in someone's arms before, but somehow, with Ben, she'd just ended up feeling cared for. Safe.

It had felt natural, him being wrapped around her like that.

The possible opportunity she had to feel that again buzzed in her mind the entire ride back to their apartment complex, making her hyper-aware of his presence. Every word spoken, every unconscious hand gesture he made as he talked - it burned in her retinas until Rey was positive she could sketch his form just from memory. She wasn't even aware of time passing until Ben spoke up.

With a jerk and a shake of her head. Rey looked around. She'd barely registered that they'd already crossed the threshold of his apartment, and were now unpacking the bag of take-out food in his kitchen. She tried not to let her imagination play merry hell with her expectations for the night, but goddammit, he was wearing a button-up that was too tight on his massive frame, and she could see he'd already undone the top button and-

_Breathe, Rey. Breathe._

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" he asked, seeming a little concerned with her sudden quietness.

Rey nodded, glancing over at him. He'd taken his jacket off, and the sleeves of his button-up were folded up around his forearms and...she bit her lip and asked, "Hey, are you particularly starving?"

"Uh, no," Ben shrugged. "I guess not. I had a late lunch."

He looked over at her as she leaned against the counter and asked curiously, "Why?"

"Do you think this food would heat up okay?" Rey asked, ignoring his question for a moment. "Like, if we put it in your fridge for now?"

Ben frowned, but shrugged again. The motion did interesting things to his shoulders, and Rey realized she was staring. "Yeah, I think it'd be fine," he said.

"Perfect."

He leaned against the counter opposite her and crossed his arms, dark eyes sparkling with curiosity at what she was insinuating.

She grinned at him and hastily grabbed the boxes they'd been unpacking, piling them into the fridge while Ben watched. When she took his hand and started walking in the direction of his bedroom, he blushed a little, finally figuring out her intentions, and Rey laughed, feeling drunk and young and very much attracted to her neighbor/friend/former nemesis.

"I  _did_ say I'd show you what  _Netflix and Chill_  really meant," she teased.

The great thing about being on good terms with Ben Solo was that now she had several different ways to turn him red that didn't involve yelling at him, and Rey decided she very much liked the various progressive shades on his face.

" _Oh_ ," Ben groaned, following her into his bedroom. "Wow, I've definitely misused that phrase. Shit."

Rey laughed, and he rolled his eyes at her, just before backing her up to his bed. It wasn't the first time she'd been in a bedroom with him, but this time it was different. There was a quiet and expectant feel to the room now, and the hyperawareness she'd been feeling returned with a vengeance, because suddenly she was  _here_ , with  _Ben_ , and suddenly it wasn't friends spending time together, and with that came the terrifying and world-shaking notion of  _more_.

With a hand splayed out just under her chest, he coaxed her gently back onto his bed. She fell on her back, and even though she was positive he'd recently changed his sheets, she was surrounded by  _him_. It stole her breath with a stutter until she released an airy giggle. Ben leaned down over her, and Rey closed her eyes at the feel of his mouth against the bit of skin that was visible around the neck of her green cardigan.

"Are you sure this is okay?" he murmured against her pulse. He was propping himself up with his arms on both sides of her, and she felt the languid smile come unbidden. With surety that surprised even her, she grabbed his hands and directed them to her hips, and she let out a low and pleased sound once they started gliding up her torso.

"Sweetheart," Ben's breath hitched, his finger running magic along her body, and she could feel repressed desire seep through his touch, "Are you sure?" He took another nip at her neck, soft, warm, and strong that had her squeezing her thighs together, in search of some sort of friction.

"You talk too much," Rey laughed, grabbing Ben by the back of his head and holding him close, enjoying the feel of his tongue against her bare flesh, and hoping her machine-gun heartbeat wasn't obvious.

Ben's response was to run his fingers over her breasts, causing her to arch at the feel of his fingers against her nipples through the fabric of her sweater. It was unfair what this man's touch was capable of doing - what he could do with a smolder and just his lips. "Just making sure you're okay with this... _sweetheart_."

Warmth pooled in her core, and Rey knew he'd done that on purpose. She'd never really liked pet names before, but something about the way he called her  _sweetheart_ just did something to her, and part of her wondered at what point he'd figured that out.

Even during the lead-up to sex Rey couldn't help but return to her usual sass. She pawed at his chest, even as she pulled him down and attacked his own bare neck with her hungry lips.

"It's more than okay, Ben, but could be a  _lot_  more than okay," she whispered, enjoying the tension in his form, the hunch of his body as he consciously tempered himself, "If you were wearing a lot less clothing."

Ben froze immediately, and snorted, letting out a breathy laugh as he stood up over her. Rey propped herself up on her elbows and teased, "You heard me." Then she sat up fully and started pulling off her own sweater and the shirt she had on under it.

Thankfully Ben seemed to be just as interested in getting her naked as she was, so he helped her tug the clothes up over her head, and once she was left in a  _thankfully_  flattering unlined lace bra (so,  _maybe_  she'd hoped to work up the nerve to make a move on Valentines when she'd gotten ready that morning) and pants, Rey figured out what the problem was.

"I said  _you_  needed to be wearing less," she laughed, "Not me!"

He rolled his eyes and reached down to start at her pants, but Rey playfully batted his hands away and reached up to start on the buttons of his shirt, quickly realizing that, while incredibly flattering, button up shirts were a straight-up pain in the ass when you just wanted someone naked as quickly as possible.

After she realized Ben was watching her with an amused look, she let out a frustrated exhale and decided to work on his pants instead.

"Well," he chortled, "At least now you're just mad at my clothes, and not me."

Rey couldn't help but snicker at that, and counter, "I'll only be mad at you if you don't get them off. C'mon, help me out here."

"Have I ever mentioned how cute you are when you're annoyed?" Ben grinned down at her and finished taking off the shirt and pulled off his undershirt, and she ignored his words and hummed happily as bare chest and abs were exposed to her. She reached up to run her hands over him, but he grabbed both of her hands in one of his, scolding, "Not yet, sweetheart, you're still wearing pants."

She snorted and lifted her hips, unbuttoning and pushing her slacks down quickly, letting them pool on his bedroom floor with little care for the wrinkles they'd undoubtedly develop. Rey was left in lace, and with a deep breath through parted red lips, Ben took in the view, roaming over her as he smirked slowly.

"Your turn," she said sweetly, reaching back for his pants. They joined the rest of his clothes in some unknown part of the room, and before she could get a look at the rest of him, he'd pressed his lips to hers, pushing her back again while he followed her down to the bed.

Lips and teeth nipped and sucked at her, and all Rey could do was let Ben do as he pleased while she busied herself with running her hands through his hair and over deliciously broad, strong shoulders. His lips traced down, along her jaw, and down her throat, marking a path along the edge of the bra Rey realized she'd never taken off.

Huffing with mild annoyance at herself, she leaned up enough for him to take a hint and reach under her, unhooking it with a surprising level of competency. His mouth returned to hers, delving into her with his tongue as she tossed the lace elsewhere, and one of his hands ran down and over her bare chest, just barely skimming over her nipples, making goosebumps rise up along her skin.

The hand that was slowly gliding down her body didn't stop until it met the lace that laid across her lower abdomen, and fingers slowly traced over the edge of it until Rey started truly regretting not just stripping herself completely. She let out a soft whine, and wiggled her hips until he chuckled against her lips, and started kissing down her body.

His lips left a trail of insatiable kisses down her stomach while her heart was busy pounding against the inside of her chest.

"Stay still for me, Rey," Ben hushed. His voice was molten magma on blistering coals, and she gasped at the feeling his mouth so close to her. "I promise I'll make you feel  _so_  good, sweetheart. Just stay still."

He continued roaming, planting spots of heat and ice every few inches with his lips, his hands sliding down the groove of her hips. It was agony, watching, waiting, wanting him as he approached and eventually reached the lace, and he let out a rumbling noise expressing his displeasure at her panties' presence.

Ben looked up, meeting Rey's stare with a gaze so hungry and dark she couldn't look away. Still holding her stare, he descended on the apex of her thighs, mouthing at the cloth and pressing his tongue against it. She felt the pressure of his mouth on her still-covered clit, a steady, demanding thing, and when he breathed against her she found herself bucking forwards, mewling with frustration.

"Take them off," Ben commanded, moving to her inner thigh instead and planting another of his heaven-and-hell kisses that did  _things_  to her mind.

Rey lifted her hips, hurriedly and practically ripping her panties off and tossing them somewhere. She rested back on his bed and was welcome with the sensation of Ben's face against her core. She moaned, and found herself reaching down and running her hands through his black locks, fingers running through and urging him desperately to keep going.

She wasn't sure what to expect. She'd had oral before, in a previous sort-of relationship. It hadn't been her favorite and it wasn't anything she'd been in a rush to try again-

Ben's tongue flicked against her and whatever other thoughts she had were scattered. He swirled his tongue in loops around her clit and she practically thrust against his face, hoping for more, more,  _more_.

Instead, he chuckled, and his grip on her thighs tightened, calming her even as she felt herself wriggling against him.

"Ben," Rey breathed. "Please?" She wasn't even sure what she was asking for, exactly.

His response was another saucy, tempting lick, that started from her entrance, sliding up as he breathed softly against her skin, and ended with the touch of the tip of his tongue against her clit.

She couldn't keep watching him, and instead, she fell back on the mattress and brought her hand up to her mouth, biting lightly against the back of her knuckle.

There was another light breath against her core, and another faint lick of his tongue against her and Rey gasped, desperately wanting  _more_  as she reached down and ran a hand through a head full of hair.

"Do you want more, Rey?" Ben asked. Before she could answer, he traced her inner thighs with soft, worshipful kisses that each promised so much - so much more than Rey had ever expected.

She fidgeted under his implacable, immovable hold on her thighs, whispering in a husky, needy voice, "Yes. I need more."

Another long, sumptuous lick, with the flat of his tongue against her made her sigh, and just as he approached her clit, he lifted himself, blessing her with just the heat of his breath and Rey practically growled in frustration. She struggled against the hold he had on her legs, gave up, and reached for his head, trying to pull him close, panting, "Ben, would you  _stop_  teasing me?"

At her words, he pressed against her, sucking her clit into his mouth as he started to hum against her. When her hips jerked at his humming, he stopped, and she could feel small flicks and ministrations against her clit. She nearly melted into a pile of nothing. Her belly felt hot and needy and pleased as Ben adjusted his grip on one of her thighs, all while playing a concerto against her with his mouth.

It was getting hard to breathe, air becoming a secondary concern to her as she felt Ben lap at her, inhale her, devote everything he could to her...her breaths got shorter as he began kissing, licking, tasting, sucking,  _devouring_  her, and  _oh_. Oh, she was getting close, a lot faster than she'd expected.

She gasped his name, somehow reduced to barely more than just that one word. " _Yes,_  keep going-"

Something entered her, parting her easily. Ben's finger roamed and curled just right, and suddenly fire coiled through her belly. She could barely breathe, too far gone to care about that, and she could only think about the brushing of his tongue against her and how overwhelming that lone finger inside her felt.

"More," Rey muttered, begging, asking, pleading. "Please, Ben, more."

Another finger entered her, and it was a light show behind her eyes when he curled his fingers and massaged against her.

Ben's tongue swirled around her clit faster and faster, his breathing heavy and yet unrelenting, focused, and entirely dedicated to her. She could barely feel her extremities, aware only of Ben's tongue, and his fingers - the two of them beginning an earth-shattering rhythm of in-out, and pressing against her in a way that had already shattered her previous expectations for the evening.

She could feel the glow of an orgasm building, at the outskirts of her awareness. It was approaching, building and insistent, and Rey swallowed hard. Thought escaped her, and all she could think of was how  _good_  it all felt.

"I'm getting close," she breathed, "So-  _so_  close."

Ben let out a low hum of approval and continued on with his ministrations, tongue working against her, fingers driving her almost insensate with brief regular brushes with paradise, and the coil of tension that had been building between her hips snapped, and she crested, clapping her hand to her mouth as she moaned. Her legs quivered around his head as he continued lapping against her gently, working her through her high.

It was like time had stopped. She could feel the pressure of Ben's face against her, but that was pretty much where her thoughts ended. The rest of the world didn't snap back in to focus so much as lazily meander back into her perception, and she finally realized Ben was still making small, pleased noises against her that she'd never thought she'd hear from him.

"Everything okay, sweetheart?" Ben murmured, kissing the inside of her thigh. It sent disorienting tingles down her still-quivering leg.

"You," she whispered. After a second, she realized some important words were missing from that, and corrected herself by saying, "I want you."

Ben's hands shifted from holding one thigh over his shoulder to massaging, rubbing her legs comfortingly, but she could practically feel the tension shooting through him at her words. He exhaled, kissed the spot he'd been at one more time, and stood back up, gazing down at her.

Rey angled her head to look at him, and not for the first time realized Ben was very tall, very well built, and stupid levels of attractive. Why the  _hell_  had she spent so long shouting at this beautiful giant of a man? Part of her wished she could go back in time and politely inform her past self that he had a mouth that was quite good at things other than yelling.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his fingers beginning to trace patterns against her hips. Goosebumps rose against her skin wherever he touched, and Rey knew without a doubt that she'd never wanted something more.

She didn't bother with an answer. Instead she sat up, came face to face with Ben's abdomen, and decided she like the way he sucked in a breath at that. She could see how he strained against the fabric of his boxers, and smiled salaciously up at him.

Without bothering to wait for him to do it himself, she grasped the waistband of the last bit of clothing he wore, pausing only to admire the muscles under her fingers. How Ben intermixed time at the gym with all his other duties, Rey didn't know, but she was was certainly going to appreciate the fruits of his labor.

"Rey," Ben uttered, and it sounded a little like a prayer as she slid the fabric down his legs.

She smirked up at him, meeting his ravenous stare with her own. Eventually she had to look down, and couldn't stop her eyes from widening when she did.

Well. He  _was_  taller than her.

"I want you," she repeated, reaching around and pulling him closer, noting just how warm his skin felt against hers.

Ben growled, or maybe said something. She wasn't entirely sure which it was, because the next thing she knew, Ben was reaching down, practically picking her up and throwing her further onto the bed. She bounced once or twice, but then he was hovering over her, arms holding him up, as he cooed and coaxed her, "You have me, sweetheart," he promised. "I'm yours."

The words were heavy and laden with thick meaning, and Rey found she liked that.

He hesitated over her and asked, "Condom?"

"Implant."

Ben hummed, and nodded. He was kneeling between her legs, and Rey reached down, helping guide him into her. He felt big in her hands, but the little gasps he released at the touch of her fingers was worth the apprehension. He teased her entrance, taunting her, and she was about to whine when suddenly he was going  _in_  and  _oh wow_  she hadn't realized she could stretch like that.

It was a fullness, a touch against her core that she'd never really had before, and judging by the throbbing, pounding pulse in her, Ben was probably feeling just as overwhelmed as her. He entered her slowly, stopping whenever she had a sharp intake of breath. He pulled in and out carefully with shallow strokes, letting her close her eyes and swim in the sensation of being so full.

 _Hot_  didn't even begin to cover how her body felt. She was holding on by a thread, maddened by need and desire, her sense of self melting and falling into a volcano of thought and feeling with each shallow thrust. As she tightened her legs around him, he slowly pushed further and further into her until was impossible to tell when she ended and he began, and Rey wondered at which point their hearts had started beating in sync.

"Faster," she said. Or maybe he said it. All Rey knew was that she wanted  _more_...the feeling of him filling her and going faster, because  _oh_ she knew she could come from this but she wanted more.

Rey had never thought herself as greedy before, but Ben was tall and dark and  _hers_  and she would burn in hell if it meant she could be greedy about this. "Faster Ben, please."

He complied, and she could feel him pick up the pace, whispering sweet words that somehow made sense to her desire-addled mind. She clenched, and squirmed, extracting every ounce of sensation she could out of Ben Solo, the man who could break her if he so chose, but instead chose to tease and fill her, and it was a sin that she'd existed this long on earth without him. Without  _this_.

"Rey," he gasped, between gritted teeth, "you feel so good, sweetheart. Fuck, I just-"

She cut him off with a searing kiss.

"Faster," she said, before throwing herself into another kiss.

His thrusts were coming harder, shaking her, quivering her core, redefining every definition of the word  _pleasure_  and he wasn't stopping. "Amazing, Rey," he groaned, "You feel-  _fuck."_

Ben was strength and beauty embodied, and he was in her, making her numb to the rest of the world with his words and his touch and his tongue on her body. He leaned down and caught her lips in a soft, passionate kiss as he continued to drive into her.

"I'm getting really close," she murmured against his lips.

She was kissing him, warring with his mouth as he pounded harder and harder, working her closer and closer to the edge. He was breathing hard, attacking her lips, biting her neck, and…

He was dangerous, and addictive. Ben Solo was delicious and that was all that mattered, and with just a single taste, Rey knew anything else had been ruined for her.

Ben was all she wanted.

"Come for me," Ben breathed, kissing her neck, voice hard and wanting and promising her. "Come for me, sweetheart. You feel so good, so tight, so-"

Her second orgasm was like a runaway train and Rey threw herself in front of it, welcoming the wave, and electricity and storm that was just as intense as her first one had been. She clenched around him and bit down on one of Ben's shoulders, tasting him and losing herself to the wave of sensation that was threatening to wash over her.

"Come on my cock, sweetheart," Ben's voice cut through the fog, and it was all she could hear. "Come around me while I fuck you and I'll-"

That was all she caught, because her orgasm hit hard, and that was it for any hope of rational thought.

Sweet, thick syrup took over her thoughts and she was only dimly aware of breathless words that escaped her. Her chest thundered and liquid warmth filled her as her legs tightened and squeezed around his waist.

Ben groaned, and she could feel warmth inside her. It was singularly identifiable and Rey knew he'd come, maybe not in time with her, but certainly as a response to her, and  _wow_  that was an incredible feeling. She was distantly aware of Ben asking her something and her answering with proper words, with correct syllables, but that was it, because she was too overwhelmed for anything else.

Rey came to with warm arms wrapped tightly around her.

Ben held her closer as she nuzzled and grinned into his chest. She muttered a playful and dazed, "What?" as he chuckled quietly.

His lips pressed into her forehead as he murmured, "I think we owe our friends a thank-you. And...maybe we owe those two students a little extra credit."

Rey hummed, and giggled softly, then perked up when she remembered the food still in his fridge. She sat up, feeling peacefully calm, and said, "Want to eat? ...then, maybe, round two?"

"Round two?" Ben laughed, pulling her down for another kiss.

She smiled as she kissed him back and she leaned down onto his chest, and pressed her forehead against his. "Mhm," she whispered, "Round two. Sound okay?"

Ben's expression softened as his arm tightened around her, and he said quietly, "Sounds like the best Valentine's I've ever had." He paused, and added, "Though, I think that's just because it's with you."

Her heart pounded just a bit harder at that.

* * *

Four Days Later

Rey tapped her fingers nervously against the armrest of the slightly uncomfortable lightly-padded chair that sat in front of Principal Holdo's desk. The office secretary had let her and Ben wait inside Holdo's office since they had a meeting - one the woman was apparently running a bit late for. Rey's nerves were going haywire, and she kept tapping for minutes until Ben finally reached out and laced his fingers with hers.

"Hey," he said softly, looking over from the chair next to her, "It's going to be fine. She already said it wouldn't be a problem. We have nothing to worry about."

Before Rey got a chance to go off on yet  _another_  panicky tangent, her purple-haired boss walked in and around her desk, taking a seat in front of them. She'd closed the door behind her, and it was just the three of them, and Rey's heart was  _pounding_.

Principal Holdo propped her elbows on the desk and narrowed her eyes as she looked at them closely. After a terrifying thirty seconds of staring, she smiled, and said, "So, you've finally decided to take me up on conflict resolution meetings. I think that's probably a very smart-"

"Uh, Amilyn, actually that's not why we're here," Ben interrupted, keeping a light, casual tone to his voice. He cleared his throat and-

That was when the woman's eyes focused in on their hands, which were still laced together.

"We were under the impression that we would be required to fill out paperwork," Ben continued, "Isn't there some sort of document in the event of workplace dating?"

A slow, amused grin spread over Amilyn's face, and she chuckled as she sat back and pulled one of her desk drawers open and searched for a moment before setting a small packet of paper between them. "I've had those forms filled out since before that little teacher's lounge stunt your coworkers pulled," she admitted, "You just need to sign them."

Rey blinked. "Wait...you knew about that?"

"Of course I did," Amilyn scoffed, "I know about everything that goes on in this building. Why do you think the custodian ignored the  _Do Not Disturb_  signs those idiots put on the doors before they left for the day? I didn't exactly feel like dealing with you being stuck in there overnight." She sighed, and added, "The forms have been filled out for months. I've just been waiting for you two to figure things out."

Ben apparently couldn't stop himself from laughing, but Rey just stared incredulously at their boss. "I don't understand. We basically hated each other back then."

After a quiet moment, Amilyn pursed her lips and snorted, glancing over at Ben, "Still haven't introduced her to the parents, then, huh?"

Rey watched curiously as Ben's lips quirked. He blushed slightly, smiled over at her, and said softly, "I was thinking we could go to next week's family dinner, actually."

She was about to say how wonderful that sounded when Amilyn piped up and gestured to the documents, "I'm not asking you to define anything right now, but you should at least take a look at these, and if you're going to take part in a serious relationship, I'll need them signed by both of you."

All Rey could do was grin at Ben, the guy she maybe... _possibly_  loved.

Maybe there was a bit of truth to the whole  _there's a thin line_  thing.

The words came out of her mouth without a second thought:

"Where do I sign?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come prompt me!
> 
> [ Attack's Tumblr](https://attackofthedarkcurses.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [ Attack's Twitter](https://twitter.com/AttackotDC)


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